ROYAL Mail is back in profit for the first time in three years, despite tough competition and big changes.
The postal service delivered £12million in earnings for the year to March 31, excluding redundancy costs — a huge turnaround from last year’s £336million loss.
But, with job-cut costs included, Royal Mail still remained in the red with underlying operating losses of £8million.
Its parent company, International Distribution Services (IDS), said the improvement came “despite an increasingly competitive trading environment”.
The group, which also owns the GLS parcel business, reported pre-tax profits of £429million — up from £114million the previous year.
The figures come after a milestone year for the group, which saw Royal Mail taken into foreign ownership for the first time in its history.
Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group snapped up IDS for £3.6billion back in June.
Ofcom gave the green light to Royal Mail to scrap second-class letter deliveries on Saturdays from July 28.
But under its Universal Service Obligation, the firm must keep Monday to Saturday deliveries for first-class post and deliver second-class letters within three working days.
Royal Mail said it had started “detailed work” ahead of rolling out the changes nationwide.
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SOLID DEFENCE
BAE SYSTEMS shares rose by 2.8 per cent yesterday morning after Norway sealed a £10billion deal to buy Type 26 anti-submarine warships from the UK.
The vessels will be built at BAE’s Glasgow shipyards, safeguarding thousands of jobs in the city. BAE closed up 1.91 per cent.
The FTSE 100 also started the month strong, rising 27 points to 9213 in early trading, before closing up 9 points.
SANTANDER FEES WHEEZE
THOUSANDS of Santander business customers are facing higher fees as the bank moves older accounts to a new version next month.
Accounts once promised to be “free forever” will have a £9.99 monthly fee and overdraft interest rates will soar from 10 per cent to 14.94 per cent, a near 50 per cent increase.
The annual fee for having an overdraft will also rise.
A Santander spokesman said: “We are simplifying our business banking to ensure we evolve to meet the needs of our business customers in the future.”
DOMINO’S SLICE
DOMINO’S PIZZA GROUP has acted to reassure investors by launching a £20million share buyback.
The firm recently cut its 2025 profit prediction to £130-£140million, down from £141-£150million, blaming costs and fewer orders as customers tighten their budgets.
To combat higher wages and National Insurance costs, Domino’s is planning on raising its prices.
