Deutsche Post said it was still in talks over a possible cooperation with United Parcel Service , providing a sought-for update on its drawn-out negotiations.

But a tie-up with other providers was also a viable option, Europe's biggest mail and express delivery company said in presentation slides on Thursday.

In 2008, Deutsche Post and UPS agreed to cooperate on air freight in the United States, but talks stalled. The exclusivity of talks between the two companies expired at the end of January.

Deutsche Post has since the start of the talks said it planned to shut down its domestic U.S. express delivery business and cut a total 14,900 jobs there. That move would cut its air capacity there to less than 100,000 shipments per day, from 1.2 million previously.

Restructuring in the U.S. was on track, Deutsche Post said, adding it still expected to post an adjusted EBIT loss of $900 million at the business in 2009.

In 2008, it booked $2.1 billion of an expected total of $3.9 billion of restructuring costs. Other DHL businesses were not affected by the changes in the United States.

Deutsche Post on Wednesday said the head of its DHL Express business, John Mullen, had resigned and would be replaced by Ken Allen, who most recently headed up the U.S. restructuring project. Mullen had suffered health problems, it said.

According to Thomson Reuters StarMine, which weights analysts' forecasts according to their track record, the stock trades at 8.7 times its 12-month forward earnings, a discount to both UPS and FedEx as investors worry it is losing ground against its rivals.

Deutsche Post's stock has lost more than 60 percent of its value in the past twelve months.

(Reporting by Maria Sheahan)

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