Mail posts loss as letters a write-off

BUT PANDEMIC PARCELS BOOST REVENUE

ROYAL Mail has tumbled into a £20million half-year loss as the pandemic accelerated a decline in sending letters.

The group’s operating losses for the 26 weeks to September 27 compare with earnings of £61m a year ago. But it has hiked its sales outlook amid a boom in parcel deliveries as online shopping has surged during the crisis.

It said full-year revenues at Royal Mail are now expected to be between £380-£580m higher year-on-year, which could see the division deliver a “better than break-even” result.

The firm’s core Royal Mail postal arm plunged to a £176m operating loss.

Keith William, interim executive chair of Royal Mail, said: “The growth in online shopping and parcels parcel s during the pand emic, c ombin mbin ed with our

Troubled Cineworld is considering axing some UK cinemas.

The chain is considering a Company Voluntary Arrangement restructuring deal, negotiating with landlords to lower rents across its 127 sites.

Last month, the chain put thousands of jobs at risk when it shut all its British and US cinemas indefinitely. The group has 5,500 staff in the UK. increased focus on delivering m more of what customers want, h has led to revenue growth of n nearly 10% for the group in the f first half, with Royal Mail revenue u up nearly 5%.

“For the first time, parcels revenue at Royal Mail is now larger than letters revenue, representing 60% of the total, compared with 47% in the prior period.”

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says with the demand for letters plummeting there is a risk that the red postbox could go the same way as the iconic telephone box, “revered for its history and not its usefulness”.

She said: “Adapting with flexibility is not Royal Mail’s strongest point and it will need to be much more nimble to keep abreast of its customers’ changing needs and stay y in with a chance of keeping up

with the compe competition.”

airline Jet2 has slumped to a £111.2million loss for the six months to September 30, against earnings of £361.5m in 2019. The airline flew just 990,000 passengers, down from 10.07 million in 2019 as pandemic restrictions crippled the sector. Jet2 has warned of further losses and expects to slash its winter 2020/21 services by half year on year.