Royal Mail declares first profit in five years

Thursday, 13 November 2003 12:00 AM

Royal Mail has announced a £3 million pre-tax profit for the six months to September.

The announcement marks Royal Mail's first time in the black in five years.

The firm made a loss of £542 million in the same period last year.

However, the profit, credited to a 1p rise in the price of stamps, does not include the estimated £40 million cost of recent unofficial strikes, which crippled deliveries across the country and led to a number of high profile countries turning to alternate postal services.

The Royal Mail's parcel delivery business Parcelforce is also reportedly close to making a profit again after years of declaring losses.

The £3 million profit is a tiny proportion of the billions of pounds worth of business Royal Mail does each year.

Royal Mail is currently in the middle of a major restructuring programme. As part of the restructuring it is shedding thousands of jobs and implementing changes to working practices.

Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, commented: "We are starting to turn the corner, which is really good news for the industry, but we want to see our members on 21st century conditions."

Talks about pay and conditions between Royal Mail and the unions continue at the conciliation service Acas.

Tags: