Hedge funds press RM for more savings as profits rise

[saddlerposty]

surely getting rid of world class mails would be a priority for everyones benefit.

[pants123]

what a joke.

[Red Robbo]

The savings will come from RM offering " silly money" in VRs to the present incumbents and then bring in agency staff on minimum wages in tandem with de- unionising the industry !

[pants123]

[hubbahubba]

The savings will come from RM offering " silly money" in VRs to the present incumbents and then bring in agency staff on minimum wages in tandem with de- unionising the industry !

If by "silly money" you mean over the odds,then i think your way off the mark.The take up would be massive.
Where do i sign?

[fishtank]

I think a lot of these investors are looking for a real estate fire sale so if you're sitting in an office in a prime city centre site start looking at bus timetables to the nearest industrial estate.

[pants123]

all this money towards hedge funds... please what is the point of it......... its only fooking money...

it's worth s**t.

[Budfrog]

Now 80pc of mail is sorted by technology, yet the productivity costs have only come down marginally in comparison. The company could be far more aggressive on driving the costs savings through

I believe that to be classed as being meched an item of mail only has to go through mechanised equipment ONCE.

[scirocco'r']

Already interesting changes in Delivery; Tompsett gone and a guy brought in from Edinburgh to sort out the mess that is outer/West London.
Other changes involve DSM's being sacked and replacements being brought in from out of the area.
This will cascade down.
DSM's bullying DOM's and OPG's dealing with the outcome of that.
Ward and Gibson need to deal with resourcing to budget from a legal standpoint.
Health and safety, workplace harassment, discrimination etc.

[k979aaa]

Hedge Funds more bloody parasites with privatisation the stench of a new kill will bring the vultures of capitalism!

[royal male]

Any more cuts to staff/duties in our office, and there will be no bugger able to go out and deliver anything.

Deliveries every other day?
Cancel Saturdays.
Cut pay, etc. etc.
Many options available to cut staffing costs.
Unfortunately.

Absolutely spot on, talking over the weekend or not means nowt! You ain't seen nothing yet.

[cyclemech1]

Hedge funds press Royal Mail for more savings as profits rise

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/news ... -rise.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Aggressive activist investors in the privatised postal delivery service believe Royal Mail can boost profits with deeper cuts

American activist investors in Royal Mail believe that cost savings could be “far more aggressive” at the newly privatised delivery company, raising the prospect that the business could come under pressure from shareholders.

Brokers said that US hedge funds and fund managers have become the “main buyers” of shares in Royal Mail in the run up to the company’s first set of results as a public company.

Royal Mail is on Wednesday expected to report record half-year profits as a result of an ongoing turnaround programme. Analysts are expecting operating profits to be up sharply from £144m a year ago. At the end of the full-year in March, operating profits had doubled to £440m.

The group results will be heavily distorted by a £1bn windfall from a change in accountancy treatments.

Gert Zonneveld, an analyst at Panmure Gordon, said: “We would expect single-digit revenue growth as a result of the ongoing cost control which is allowing underlying profits to improve.”

Shares in Royal Mail have soared from their 330p offer price to as high as 600p. On Friday they closed at 539p.

Vince Cable, the Business Secretary who is facing questioning by MPs on the valuation of the company this week, has dismissed the rise as “froth”. Last week, UBS, one of the banks that helped list the company, issued a sell note, saying the stock looked overpriced.

But some US hedge funds think that Royal Mail could execute deeper cost cuts and yield far bigger profits.

Staff costs are one of the key areas being analysed.

“The productivity improvement rate is really pretty low, given the amount of new technology at the company,” said one source.

“Now 80pc of mail is sorted by technology, yet the productivity costs have only come down marginally in comparison. The company could be far more aggressive on driving the costs savings through.”

Another source said: “There’s been interest from London-based hedge funds, particularly since TCI disclosed its stake. American funds have started looking at the company later but they are becoming the main buyers.”

TCI, the hedge fund run by Chris Hohn, was the first investor to build a disclosable stake in Royal Mail. The London-based firm, which is known as one of the most aggressive funds in the world, is Royal Mail’s biggest shareholder with a 5.8pc stake.

Wtf is that?

It's as I suspected all along, these management b#@t#&ds make the accounts say what they want.

All that cr@p in the past about losing a million quid a day etc. BULLSH#T!!!

[freelunch]

The group results will be heavily distorted by a £1bn windfall from a change in accountancy treatments.

Wtf is that?

It's as I suspected all along, these management b#@t#&ds make the accounts say what they want.

All that cr@p in the past about losing a million quid a day etc. BULLSH#T!!!

This is why RM were able to predict future dividends so confidently at the time of the IPO - they tell the accountants what numbers they want

There's nothing new about creative accounting. Royal Mail chose to exclude some financial information from the prospectus accounting to give themselves some extra leeway.

Large companies often book revenue before it's earned, mis-value assets, put aside monies in a fund with some spurious designation and the latest trick seen in the US is to book R&D as revenue In Royal Mail's case I suspect the windfall will be from investments rather than delivering mail or parcels.

[thehappyones]

The savings will come from RM offering " silly money" in VRs to the present incumbents and then bring in agency staff on minimum wages in tandem with de- unionising the industry !

Me too,Where do we sign?????

[Billy Ray]

Not only would I scrap wcm but I would also let go those that were involved in it, biggest scam ever.