Snapshot: Glowing GLS still subsidising Royal Mail?

Sell-side research house Bernstein today ran the rule over International Distributions Services (IDS), the holding company controlling Royal Mail and logistics arm GLS.

Before you get going, the scale of the problem is here below, sourced from IDS’s statement:

“Group reported operating loss of £748 million (2021-22: £577 million profit), comprised of loss in Royal Mail of £1,044 million (2021-22: £250 million profit) and a profit in GLS of £296 million (2021-22: £327 million profit).”

Fiscal full-year 2023 results weren’t too bad, however, if …