24th Jan 2014 07:34
LONDON (Alliance News) - Royal Mail PLC Friday reported a 2% increase in like-for-like revenues for the first half of the year, driven by further growth in its parcels revenues.
However, the company said parcel volumes were flat for the period as its new size-based pricing meant some customers decided not to send some larger items via Royal Mail. Overall, like-for-like parcel revenues were up 8% over the nine months to end-December, driven by the new pricing structure.
The lack of volume growth in parcels may come as a disappointment to the markets, which have seen retailers reporting huge growth in online sales over the Christmas period.
Royal Mail said it handled 115 million parcels in December, a like-for-like increase. However, it didn't give a comparative figure.
"We handled significantly more parcels than any other carrier in the UK parcel market," it said of the Christmas period.
Revenues and volumes in the company's letters business both fell, continuing a long-standing trend. It said like-for-like revenue was down 3% in the nine-month period, while addressed letter volumes were down 5%. The volume fall was better than the 6% decline reported for the first half of Royal Mail's financial year, thanks to a high level of energy company mailings in the third quarter.
The company, which only listed in the Autumn of 2013 in a high-profile privatisation, said it expects the trends to continue during the rest of the financial year and expects to deliver results "consistent with our key value drivers for the full year."
Costs in the first nine months of the year were "consistent with underlying performance in the first half," it added.
Royal Mail said it expects to report its full-year results May 22.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @SteveMcGrath1
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