Postal votes boost revenue at IDS as ‘Czech Sphinx’ Kretinsky commits to six-day service

The owner of Royal Mail has pointed to record levels of postal votes and campaigning literature as being behind sizeable increased volumes and revenue, as its ‘Czech Sphinx’ bidder re-committed to the universal service obligation for at least five years.

Revenue at International Distribution Services (IDS), which is currently in the process of being acquired by Daniel Křetínský, rose by 8.2 per cent in the three months ended June 31 to £3.3bn, up from £3.0bn in the same period last year.

At Royal Mail specifically, revenue was up 10.6 per cent, from £1.8bn to £2bn, thanks in large part to the fact it delivered “more postal votes and candidate mail… than in any previous election”.

IDS also owns the logistics firm GLS. Its revenue also rose 4.8 per cent in the quarter.

The results were announced alongside a commitment from Křetínský – the firm’s Czech suitor – to the universal service obligation (USO), a commitment from the postal service to deliver to anyone in the country for the same price.

It added that while it supported the delivery of first and second class services six days a week for at least five years, following its acquisition it “intends to explore, with Ofcom and the UK Government, this approach to delivering the USO on a sustainable basis”.

Martin Seidenberg, the chief executive of IDS, commented: “The Group delivered good revenue growth of 8.2 per cent in the quarter, with the increase in Royal Mail revenue reflecting the impact of the customer win back programme since industrial action, the focus on improving quality of service and the successful delivery of 50 per cent more postal votes and 30 per cent more candidate mail in the recent general election, compared to 2019.

“I am proud and thankful for all the extra effort our postmen and women put in to play our part in delivering democracy.”