The mail carrier has reported an 11.5% loss in revenue in Q1 2022, which reflects weakened retail trends and a return to a “structural decline in letters”.

Royal mail has warned that it progress on Pathway to Change has stalled, creating a £100 million deficit.

Royal Mail is considering a departure from its subsidiary company GLS, which saw a 3% in Q1 2022.

Keith Williams, Chair, commented: “Whilst GLS delivered a solid performance in the first quarter, the performance of Royal Mail was disappointing with an adjusted operating loss of £92 million resulting from of a decline in parcel volumes post the pandemic and a lack of progress in delivering efficiencies.”

Over the last three years, Royal Mail says, the ‘Group’ has become increasingly reliant on GLS for its returns. Royal Mail has since changed the name of its holding company to International Distributions Services, to reflect the importance of GLS to the Group.