MARKET REPORT: Royal Mail rally is a rare delight for beleagured shareholders in the troubled postal service

[Janet Brum]

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It has been a torrid time for Royal Mail shareholders since the stock peaked at over 630p a little over two years ago.

By early April, following weeks of panic selling all over the world as the Covid-19 pandemic spread, the shares were changing hands for close to 120p.

But, despite a string of problems facing the 500-year-old postal service, from a slump in letter deliveries to a battle with unions over modernisation, the stock now has something of a spring in its step. Shares rose as high as 237p in early trading yesterday – a level not seen since late last year. It later closed up 6 per cent, or 13.2p, at 233.7p – taking gains this week alone to 35 per cent.


The latest rise came as analysts at JPMorgan raised its price target for Royal Mail shares to 253p from 145p.

The rally will be welcomed by Royal Mail's army of small shareholders as well as boss Keith Williams and a billionaire investor dubbed the 'Czech sphinx'. That is Daniel Kretinsky, who owns Sparta Prague football club and is Royal Mail's biggest shareholder with a 13 per cent stake through his firm Vesa Equity Investment.

The continued recovery in Royal Mail shares came as the FTSE100 edged up 0.5 per cent, or 28.7 points, to 6032.09, while the mid-cap FTSE250 fell 0.1 per cent, or 18.08 points, to 17555.87.

Traders were digesting official figures showing the UK economy continued its recovery in July – with GDP up 6.6 per cent – although output is still 11.7 per cent down since the Covid-19 pandemic struck.