Deliverance from a bruising underperformance won’t come soon for shareholders in Royal Mail, or International Distributions Services as it will soon be known. A vote for strike action by postal workers makes the prospect of cost savings more remote and the top line has been hit by a fall in the volume of letters and parcels sent.
Adjusted profits for the 12 months to the end of March are likely to come in at break-even for the core Royal Mail business, far worse than guidance of just over £300 million given in May. Analysts at the brokerage Berenberg cut the group profit forecast for the current financial year to £376 million, from £671 million, and for 2024 to £607 million, from the £770 million analysts
