- Royal Mail's annual operating profits more than halved to £96 million, down from £198 million, primarily due to soaring labour costs, including minimum wage increases and an extra £133 million employee tax bill.
- Its owner, International Distribution Services (IDS), reported a more than two-thirds drop in overall pre-tax profits to £141 million, with its GLS parcel arm also experiencing a decline in earnings.
- Royal Mail saw parcel volumes rise by seven per cent to 1.4 billion, but addressed letters fell 10 per cent to 5.7 billion.
- Royal Mail is pressing ahead with changes, which include delivering second class post every other weekday and discontinuing Saturday deliveries across the UK, following an agreement with trade unions.
- Regulator Ofcom launched an investigation earlier this month into the firm’s failure to meet its delivery targets over the past year.
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