Deutsche Post wins challenge to EU state aid ruling

Deutsche Post AG, Europe's largest mail service, won a court bid to overturn an European Union decision that it misused 572 million euros in state subsidies.

The European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg ruled yesterday that the EU failed to rebut Deutsche Post's claims that the aid was used for proper purposes. Deutsche Post said in a statement that the ruling will allow it to seek the return of about 1 billion euros from Germany.

The company had returned the initial aid and now "expects to receive the cash inflow in several weeks' time and would prefer to earmark the amount for returning to shareholders pending clarity regarding other cash-relevant issues", Bonn-based Deutsche Post said in the statement.