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Royal Mail’s parent company International Distributions Services has today reported a first-half loss of £57m as higher costs and disruptions arising from strikes by its postal workers put a strain on its finances.
The former British postal monopoly recently changed the name of its holding company from Royal Mail Plc.
It said it still expects full-year adjusted operating loss for Royal Mail – its UK business – of around £350-450m.
It is targeting for Royal Mail to return to adjusted operating profit in full year 2024-25. The company maintained its forecast for GLS, its international division.
Royal Mail has been locked in a bitter dispute with its largest labour union – the Communication Workers Union (CWU) – over pay and operation changes at the over 500-year-old postal company.
This resulted in several days of strikes in the past few months.
The union plans to hold more strikes in the run-up to the busy Christmas period, after it rejected a new conditional pay offer, which was subject to the CWU agreeing to changes such as Sunday working and flexible working.
Royal Mail had said it could cut up to 10,000 jobs and warned of more layoffs and even deeper financial losses if it cannot reach an agreement with the CWU.
The group’s revenue for the six-month period ended September 25 fell nearly 4% to £5.84 billion, dragged by weak performances at Royal Mail.
It also posted an adjusted operating loss for the reported period compared to a profit of £404m last year.
