Royal Mail shares tumble 12% as home delivery boom fades | Business

The home delivery boom for Royal Mail has receded along with the end of coronavirus restrictions, leaving the business short of the profits it was promising investors earlier this year.

It is now warning of a sharp decline in the coming months, with the cost-of-living crisis forecast to hit online shopping and parcel delivery further.

Royal Mail is losing a further chunk of its business delivering Covid-19 testing kits, worth 7 per cent of its volumes last year.

That is before the potential impact of a threatened nationwide postal strike over pay. The company has offered its 115,000 workers a 2 per cent pay rise plus 1.5 per cent if certain changes to working practices are agreed.

Its employees’ main trade union, the Communications Workers