Election can’t halt Royal Mail slump

EVEN the slew of post sent during the UK’s general election was not enough to halt the decline of Royal Mail’s letters business.

The privatised postal service said volumes of official letters pushed through letterboxes for local authorities and government bodies only put a 1pc dent in the rate of decline, which was still 6pc. This did not include post sent to voters by political parties, a trading update for the three months to June 25 said yesterday.

However, its parcels business General Logistics Systems (GLS) reported a 5pc boost to deliveries which was down to strong growth in all its markets, particularly Italy. This would translate to a 6pc rise in revenues, compared to the 4pc drop in letters.

Moya Greene, chief executive, said: ‘GLS continues to be a driving force for the group. Our performance in letters was better than we expected, despite continued business uncertainty in the UK.’

The postal group is still in a deadlock with unions over proposals to overhaul pensions, adding to uncertainty.