Return to sender. The road map for Japan Post, whose privatisation forms the showpiece of prime minister Junichiro Koizumi's reforms, is as tantalising as an overdue utility bill.
Draft plans for the four entities that will evolve from the post office, itself the world's biggest bank, are more concerned with employee deployment than credible profit forecasts. Take the bank, which is targeting net profits of Y428bn in 2008. There is scant evidence of where that will come from - particularly since the plan assumes that the economy, market share, interest rates and foreign exchange rates all remain frozen at March 2006 levels.
