6th Oct 2015 07:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK Mail Group PLC said trading has been in line with its revised expectations, with first half revenue higher and volumes for its parcels and mail both higher.
In August, the group issued a profit warning after the move to a new fully-automated facility in Coventry resulted in a greater-than-expected level of customer churn and a higher-than-anticipated fall in volumes, along with an associated impact on its parcel revenue mix.
The group said its trading for the half-year to the end of September has been in line with its revised forecasts, with revenue in the half up by around 4% year-on-year.
In the parcels business, average daily volumes in the half were up by around 8% year-on-year in the half, driven by business-to-consumer customers from the growth in online shopping.
Average daily mail volume in the half was up around 8% year-on-year too, with a number of major contracts recently won and a robust pipeline in place.
The group will publish its interim results on November 18.
"We are focused on executing the plan we have put in place to address the recent challenges associated with our Parcels business. Progress to date has been encouraging and an update on this will be provided at the interim results in November," said Guy Buswell, UK Mail's chief executive.
"We remain confident in our medium and long term prospects and in the operational benefits that our new fully-automated hub will bring, with a number of significant new customers keen to use our services as a result of this investment," Buswell added.
Shares in UK Mail were up 4.6% to 378.5 pence early Tuesday, one of the best performers in the FTSE All-Share.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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