LETTER DROP STAMPED OUT

A wave of stamp price rises helped Royal Mail stem a slump in its letters arm.

The privatised postal giant increased prices across the board at the end of March, with a firstclass stamp up another 1p to 65p. That, together with a flood of mailings in the run-up to the general election, limited the fall in revenues in its letters business to 4% in the three months to June 25.

Bumper business in its parcels arm meant group sales rose 1%.

The results come as Royal Mail faces the risk of industrial action over a pensions shake-up for nearly 90,000 workers.