Postal regulator Postcomm has accepted a request from Royal Mail
to increase the price of its bulk mail service. The decision,
said a Postcomm statement, will “help maintain the pace of
the modernisation programme required to safeguard the provision
of the universal postal service”. By deregulating certain
services, said Postcomm, including deregulation of packets and
parcels weighing more than 2kg and removal of retail price
controls from second class presorted bulk mail services, Royal
Mail will be given greater freedom to compete in the presorted
bulk mail market, “where the company has lost significant
volumes to competitors”.
Total sales in the UK and Ireland at DIY behemoth
Kingfisher were flat, at £954 million for
the fourth quarter. At Screwfix, total sales
grew 5.4 percent to £119 million, or 2.6 percent on a
like-for-like basis.
Revenue at French retail group PPR, the company
behind the Redcats mail order group, Puma and Gucci,was up 7.5
percent to €14.6 billion (£12.3 billion) in 2010.
During the year, revenue from online sales rose 14.3 percent on
2009, to €2.3 billion (£1.9 billion). Ecommerce now
accounts for 15.5 percent of total group revenue. The company
also reported a recurring operating income of €1.53 billion
in 2010 (£1.29 billion), up 23.5 percent on 2009. Group
EBITDA grew 18.2 percent year-on-year on a reported basis to
€1.86 billion (£1.57 billion).
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Italy-based online apparel retailer Yoox posted
consolidated net revenues (net of returns and customer discounts)
of €214.3 million (£180.5 million) in the year to 31st
December 2010, 40.8 percent up on the previous year.
The company’s home market contributed the most sales, whilst the
rest of Europe, including the UK, France and Germany, showed
positive growth–up 38.4 percent on last year. In north America,
Yoox posted a a growth of 64 percent compared with 2009, while
the Japanese market grew by 51.8 percent compared with the last
fiscal year.
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