Strike in pay dispute ‘could send Royal Mail into red’ | Business

Royal Mail has confirmed what its long-suffering investors already knew: that forthcoming strikes over an unresolved pay dispute will not only bring the business to a standstill but also hit it hard financially.

After news that 115,000 Royal Mail workers in the Communication Workers Union plan 24-hour industrial actions this month and next, the company told the London Stock Exchange: “If the announced strike action takes place, it is expected that Royal Mail in the UK would be materially lossmaking in the 2022/23 financial year.”

Royal Mail shares are close to 21-month lows compared with their 2013 float price of 330p, despite rising almost 3p, or 1.1 per cent, to 269¼p yesterday.

The company reiterated the position for the first quarter of its trading year