Royal Mail returns to profit for first time in 3 years

{"text":[[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":7.55,"text":"The Royal Mail returned to profit on an adjusted basis for the first time in three years after it increased volumes through automation and locker deliveries, as well as cutting costs."}],[{"start":22.23,"text":"The results at International Distribution Services (IDS), which owns Royal Mail and the far smaller Netherlands-based parcel group GLS, provide a boost to Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský, whose EP Group completed its £5.3bn takeover of the company in June."}],[{"start":41.980000000000004,"text":"Royal Mail made an adjusted operating profit of £12mn, its first since the year to March 2022. Including voluntary redundancy costs, it reported operating losses of £8mn, against a £348mn loss for the year to March 2024, on revenue up 7 per cent to £8.23bn."}],[{"start":69.23,"text":"The UK postal group’s performance lifted IDS, which posted an adjusted operating profit of £278mn, on revenue up 4.8 per cent to £13.1bn, against a loss by the same measure of £28mn the previous year."}],[{"start":88.72,"text":"Finance director Michael Snape said there had been no difference in the company’s management following EP Group’s takeover, adding that current trading had continued the improving trends revealed in the results."}],[{"start":102.8,"text":"“We’re accelerating the action that we’re taking, which these results show is working,” he said."}],[{"start":108.64999999999999,"text":"Royal Mail is seeking to improve its competitiveness in the growing market for ecommerce deliveries, partly by focusing sorting at two large hubs, in Daventry in the West Midlands, and Warrington, near Manchester."}],[{"start":123.53999999999999,"text":"The group said that, in the year to March, 90 per cent of parcel sorting was automated, compared with 50 per cent as recently as 2022."}],[{"start":134.07,"text":"Martin Seidenberg, chief executive of IDS, said he was confident the operator would start meeting its targets for delivery quality after the regulator substantially relaxed the obligations on the company."}],[{"start":147.81,"text":"Regulator Ofcom in July said it would allow Royal Mail to deliver second-class mail only five days a week, on alternate days, instead of the previous six days a week. It reduced the target for the proportion of first-class post delivered the next day from 93 per cent to 90 per cent."}],[{"start":168.71,"text":"The company has incurred repeated fines in recent years for falling short of the service standards set by the regulator."}],[{"start":176.31,"text":"Seidenberg acknowledged the operation was not hitting Ofcom’s targets and said it would take “a bit of time” to implement the changes necessary to bring in the new system of working across Royal Mail’s 1,200 delivery offices."}],[{"start":192.51,"text":"“It’s a massive change,” he said. But the operator would start hitting the regulator’s targets, he added, noting: “I’m confident we will get there.”"}],[{"start":210.92999999999998,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftmailbox.cn/album/a_1756770546_1575.mp3"}