Postwatch, the consumer watchdog for postal services, welcomes Royal Mail Group’s return to profit. This is the Group’s first declared operating profit since 1998/99.
Peter Carr, Chairman of Postwatch, commenting on the profit announcement said,
“This is a good result and the new management team are to be congratulated on an early return to profit. A successful Royal Mail is good news for customers.
“We note that the letters part of the business contributed profits (+£161m) and that Parcelforce (-£59m) and Post Office Limited (-£91m) continue to be hugely loss making.
“We look forward to future profit growth resulting from improved efficiency and not just from further price increases. Customers should not be asked to pay more until the minimum performance standards set out in the licence are achieved across the product range.”
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. Royal Mail Group’s recent operating (loss)/profit history:
1997/98 £528 m
1998/99 £394 m
1999/00 (£275m)
2000/01 (£70m)
2001/02 (£1186 m)
2002/03 (£678 m)
2. On 8th May Royal Mail increased 1st and 2nd Class mail prices by 1 penny. At the time it indicated these increases would yield £170 m per annum. In the period May to September it is estimated that the price increases will have yielded about £90m.
3. In 2002/03 Royal Mail failed 13 of its 16 performance targets.
4. Visit the Postwatch website http://www.postwatch.co.uk/
