12th Jan 2016 08:26
LONDON (Alliance News) - Post and logistics company UK Mail Group PLC on Tuesday said trading in the key third quarter met its expectations, with good volume growth in its parcels business and its automated hub performing well.
UK Mail said its expectations for the year to the end of March remain unchanged after trading in the third quarter met its forecasts, with parcel volume growth of 8.0% against the year earlier, driven by a surge in online shopping over the festive period.
The group also said its automated hub, problems with which had caused it to issue a profit warning for this year and to caution on its outlook for the following financial year, performed well during the peak period and is starting to achieve good throughput levels. This helped the group maintain good customer service levels during the Christmas period.
The group's mail business saw volumes grow 2.0%, though revenue was down due to an adverse sales mix.
"I am pleased to report that UK Mail has performed well during our peak Christmas trading period, maintaining our customer service levels even as volumes continued to increase. It is clear from weekly volume patterns that there are now effectively two peaks, one around the 'Black Friday' weekend in November and another in late December," said Peter Kane, UK Mail's chairman.
UK Mail shares were up 8.2% to 265.6364 pence on Tuesday morning.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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