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Royal Mail's first results after change of ownership show a profit for the operator

Royal Mail's International Distribution Services (IDS), a subsidiary of Royal Mail, reported its first profit in three year on Monday. The growth in parcel volume at its British operations and efforts to reduce costs were the main factors.

Royal Mail has tried to modernise their business by shifting its focus from letters to parcels. They have hinted at increased automation and price increases to reduce costs in the difficult UK market.

IDS reported an adjusted operating profit of 278 million pounds (375.55 millions dollars) for the fiscal year that ended on March 30, compared to 28 million pounds loss the prior year. Revenue increased 4.8% to 13,14 billion pounds.

The positive results are a great boost for one of the oldest postal groups in the world. The EP Group, owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, closed the acquisition of IDS in this year. They made commitments to safeguard the Royal Mail's more than 500 years of history and the futures of thousands of employees and customers.

IDS's international parcels network GLS - its cash cow - reported a slight drop in adjusted annual operating profit because of challenges in Germany, Italy and other countries.

IDS did not mention in its results report the ending of U.S. Tariff Exemptions for Low-Value Packages, which caused chaos in global postal services.

(source: Reuters)