In a Q1 trading update for the three months to 30 June, parent International Distribution Services (IDS) said that revenue at Royal Mail was up 10.6% to £2bn, with “more postal votes and candidate mail delivered than in any previous election”:

Compared with the General Election in 2019, deliveries of postal vote returns jumped by 50%, and Royal Mail delivered 30% more candidate mail.

Excluding the election, addressed letter volumes were down 4%.

Overseas parcels wing GLS posted sales up 4.8% to £1.26bn “despite market headwinds”.

Overall group sales were up 8.2% at £3.25bn.

IDS CEO Martin Seidenberg commented: “The group delivered good revenue growth of 8.2% in the quarter, with the increase in Royal Mail revenue reflecting the impact of the customer win back programme since industrial action, the focus on improving quality of service and the successful delivery of 50% more postal votes and 30% more candidate mail in the recent general election, compared to 2019.

“I am proud and thankful for all the extra effort our postmen and women put in to play our part in delivering democracy.”

He reiterated the group’s calls for urgent reform of the “unsustainable” Universal Service Obligation, with Ofcom due to provide an update over the summer.

IDS also confirmed that Royal Mail is expected to make an adjusted operation profit (before voluntary redundancy costs) in the 2024-25 financial year.

Following Daniel Křetínský’s BBC interview earlier this week, his EP UK Bidco clarified and re-confirmed the intentions and contractual commitments in its offer document, in particular around the USO and that it does not intend to divest GLS.

As of yesterday (17 July) Bidco had received valid acceptances in respect of shares amounting to 3.37% of IDS’ issued share capital.

Together with the shares already held by Křetínský’s Vesa Equity Investment, that makes the total current holding just under 31%.

The offer remains open until 1pm on the unconditional date, expected to be in Q1 2025.