Few positives in a second-class stock at Royal Mail owner IDS

Ask any one of the dwindling bulls on International Distributions Services what is the attraction of remaining invested in the beleaguered stock and they will point to GLS, the highly profitable international parcels delivery business.

The trouble with unlocking any of that value? Royal Mail, the problem child that represents about half of the FTSE 250 group’s revenue and is in the middle of a lengthy and costly dispute with its workers. Now the Communication Workers Union is understood to have been told that a failure to reach an agreement risks tipping Royal Mail’s lossmaking regulated delivery business in Britain into administration.

But Royal Mail isn’t like most businesses. To put it into administration, for example, government approval would be required. The practicalities and time