Royal Mail profits fall by more than half

Royal Mail has reported a 27 % dip in pre-tax profits to £183 million for the six months to 23 September 2018.

The company’s net debt grew 23 % to £470 million. Adjusted basic earnings per share fell 32 % to 13.6p, while while it has set its interim dividend at 8p per share, a 4 % increase.

Commenting on the results, Rico Back, Group Chief Executive Officer said: “We have put in place a range of actions to improve our performance. We are reconfirming our commitment to our revised £100 million cost avoidance target and adjusted Group operating profit before transformation costs of £500 million – £550 million for the financial year.

“We will update the market next year on our strategy. There will be a greater emphasis on how we connect customers, companies and countries through our domestic and international businesses. There will be a clearer focus on financial performance and management accountability. In March, we will host our first Capital Markets day since IPO in 2013. We will share more detail then about our direction for the next five years.”