Royal Mail’s letters and parcels and international business lost
£120 million in 2010/11-compared with a £20 million
profit in fiscal 2009/10. The company said the revenue decline,
approximately £2 million a week, was mainly driven by a fall
in volumes. This year, Royal Mail delivered 62 million items of
mail a day, a decline of some 20 percent. Chief executive Moya
Greene says she expects further declines “of around 5
percent a year”.
In related news, the Postal Services Bill has been agreed by
parliament, paving the way for Royal Mail to be privatised and
relieved of its £1.7 billion debt. As part of preparations
for the sale of the company, the government is seeking approval
from the European Commission to take on Royal Mail’s historic
pension deficit.
But Dave Ward, deputy general secretary of the Communication
Workers Union, warned of possible industrial action if Royal
Mail’s plans for the future are linked with further job losses
that weren’t previously on the postal carrier’s modernisation
plans. According to published reports, Royal Mail is close to
agreeing a revised business plan with the government that will
see a further 15,000 jobs cut by 2016.
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