Royal Mail hails good performance

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-35369613" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Royal Mail has said trading over the past nine months "fully met" its expectations.

It said parcel volumes had risen by 4% over the period, with volumes in December up 6% as it handled 130 million parcels over Christmas.

Letter volumes fell 3%, although Royal Mail said the performance had "improved slightly over the first half".

The company, now fully privatised, also said it was on track to deliver its cost reduction target.

The shares, which are widely held by individual shareholders following the privatisation that started in 2013, were up 3.5% in morning trading.

Moya Greene, Royal Mail's chief executive, said: "Once again we delivered a great Christmas - even better than last year's strong performance."

The company added it had made a number of investments to improve its technological capabilities.

'Challenging'

Royal Mail's operations have been under review by the regulator, Ofcom, since last summer.

It is looking at the "efficient and financially sustainable provision" of the UK's universal postal service.

The universal service is the Royal Mail's commitment to deliver to all of the UK for the same price.

Charles Huggins, investment analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, said: "Conditions in the UK parcel market look set to remain
challenging."

But he said that Royal Mail was in a much better position than other postal operators to "weather the storm, with around 50% of the UK parcel market, so it can invest more in technology and service.

"There is plenty of scope to reduce costs, having spent so long in public hands. This should help to support profits, at a time when rivals are seeing margins squeezed."

[worktotime]

reduce costs ? does that mean cutting the amount of staff , taking dutys out of delivery offices ? and putting more and more pressure on staff AGAIN.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Yes

[IloveMYredTROLLEY!]

reduce costs ? does that mean cutting the amount of staff , taking dutys out of delivery offices ? and putting more and more pressure on staff AGAIN.

Yes, because more OPGs are buckling under the pressure and doing things that reduce their real duty time, like...
Not using or taking account of their paid breaks
Not using LWTs and HCTs correctly, delivering by pouch with bags >5Kg, leaving trolleys unattended for longer than the official RM security rules that OPGs/linos often turn a blind eye to
Coming in early for free
Doing overtime for free
Doing D2D nesting (against protocol) at home
Leaving letters/parcels in insecure places, such as knowingly unlocked porches/bins and alike
etc. etc.