MARKET REPORT: Royal Mail's owner rises after Kretinsky swoop

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https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mar ... swoop.html

Shares in the owner of Royal Mail rose after its biggest shareholder increased its stake.

In a vote of confidence for the postal group, Daniel Kretinsky’s Vesa Equity Investment increased its holding in International Distributions Services (IDS) from 26.15 per cent to 27.58 per cent.

The billionaire who has been dubbed the ‘Czech sphinx’ set up his investment vehicle, which also has a stake in Sainsbury’s, five years ago.

Its latest backing should provide some much-needed respite for investors in IDS, which last week reported that its half-year losses trebled to £169million.

It came as losses at its Royal Mail arm hit £319million – more than wiping out profits of £150million at its international sister arm GLS.

Shares in IDS gained 2.5 per cent, or 6.2p, to 252.5p, taking gains for the year to nearly 20 per cent.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.2 per cent, or 14.07 points, to 7483.58 while the FTSE 250 was almost flat – rising by just 0.66 points, to 18,480.83.