Business

Royal Mail reports rise in first-quarter revenue

Company refrains from providing an annual forecast

Parcel volumes in Royal Mail’s UK business fell 13 per cent in the three months ended June 30th.

Wed Jul 21 2021 - 11:31

Royal Mail reported on Wednesday a 12.5 per cent rise in revenue in the first quarter as lockdown curbs encouraged people to shop online, although parcel volumes in the UK have started to dip as the country starts to ease restrictions.

The company, one of the oldest postal firms, said parcel volumes in its UK business fell 13 per cent in the three months ended June 30th, as compared with a year earlier, but were up 19 per cent on the 2019 quarter.

The company said Britons were having fewer parcels delivered to their homes as pandemic restrictions eased across the country.

“We continue to expect fluctuations in volumes as we emerge from Covid restrictions, which we will need to manage accordingly,” chairman Keith Williams said in a statement.

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Royal Mail said in a statement that the rate at which UK parcel volumes were falling was increasing across the quarter. The company refrained from providing an annual forecast for its UK business, citing uncertainties as it starts to “unwind from the impact of the pandemic”.

It maintained its full-year forecast for GLS, its worldwide ground-based parcel network. – Reuters

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