Business Post delivers improvement
A company handed a licence under the deregulation of the postal service has showed signs of recovery following a profits warning earlier this year.
Business Post warned in January that annual profits for the year to March 31 would be pounds 4.5m lower than expectations because of the cost of buying out the leases to a string of franchised depots.
The company said a number of initiatives had helped stabilise its performance since then, adding that recent trading was satisfactory and in line with market hopes.
Many of the depots are run as franchises and Business Post said there was an improvement in network performance after two loss- making franchises were brought back into corporate ownership.
The group’s parcel services division failed to boost margins last year, but was now making steady progress after changes to the operational team, said the statement.
Meanwhile, a management restructure in the same-day courier services has also seen some benefit as the division was trading in line with expectations.
UK Mail, which collects letters every night and sorts them before passing them on to Royal Mail for delivery, dealt with 70 million packages in June, which the firm said reflected a strong market position.
In December, chief executive Guy Buswell said the business spent too much on deliveries and was not charging customers enough. He brought about improvements following a root-and-branch review as the firm looked to improve customer mix and service.
