CT UK Equity Income backs struggling Royal Mail owner

Scope for turnaround at underperforming IDS believes CT’s Smith

International Distribution Services (IDS), formerly known as Royal Mail, has been a significant underperformer but a new strategy may change its fortunes, says Columbia Threadneedle’s Jeremy Smith.

Smith holds the Citywire Elite Companies A-rated postal and courier services group in his £3.3bn CT UK Equity Income fund, and in a recent update said the shares in IDS have ‘underperformed significantly over the last three years, resulting in a deeply discounted valuation’.