How Amazon has lifted Royal Mail

THE online shopping boom helped Royal Mail deliver record numbers of parcels for Christmas.

Parcel volumes were up 6pc for the nine months to December 24, the biggest rise since it was privatised in 2013.

It was fuelled by people shopping on Amazon, one of Royal Mail’s biggest customers.

Moya Greene, chief executive, said she was also close to resolving an industrial dispute which has dogged it for months. The company is locked in a row over pensions, pay and working conditions with the Communication Workers Union, which threatened strikes before a truce last month.

Greene said: ‘We have had a good performance thanks to the hard work and dedication of our people. They pulled out all the stops to deliver a great Christmas for the UK.’

Royal Mail said volumes at Parcelforce Worldwide, its international arm, were up 2pc thanks to new contracts. Letter volumes fell by 5pc, less than expected, with group revenues up 2pc. Shares fell by 0.9pc, or 4p, to 463.2p.