Rival’s alert and broker warning unnerve Royal Mail investors | Business

A City broker’s warning of escalating losses at Royal Mail’s British business and a profit alert from an American rival wiped £200 million off the value of the postal delivery group last night.

Investors were rattled by JP Morgan, the American investment bank, telling its clients to prepare for Royal Mail to scrap dividend payments and by FedEx abandoning earnings forecasts for the year and saying that first-quarter profits had missed expectations.

FedEx blamed a faltering economy, raising red flags about the prospects for other delivery groups, including Royal Mail.

Shares in the FTSE 250 company fell by 20¼p, or 8.1 per cent, to 229¾p, their lowest level since November 2020 and giving it a stock market value of about £2.2 billion.

Royal Mail, which