 group shares fell slightly on Thursday morning, despite revenue growing by 2 percent in the nine months to 24th December. ){kind=link}
Royal Mail (LON:RMG) group shares fell slightly on Thursday morning, despite revenue growing by 2 percent in the nine months to 24th December.
The group’s results were aided by a strong performance in its busy Christmas period, with total parcel volumes up 6 percent to 149 million, and Royal Mail Tracked service volume up by 31 percent.
Letter volumes decreased, however, down by 5 percent with figures affected by a weak period the prior year.
The group said its trading performance in the first nine months of the financial year was good and “in line with our performance in the first half”. It added that parcels are likely to stay within guidance range, but that letter volumes may drop by between 4 and 6 percent.
Moya Greene, Chief Executive Officer, Royal Mail plc, said:
“We have had a good performance over the important Christmas period thanks to the hard work and dedication of our people. They pulled out all the stops to deliver a great Christmas for the UK”.
Commenting on Royal Mail’s pension plan, which has provoked concern amongst staff and warnings of union strikes, Greene said:
“We have continued to make progress in talks with our unions on pay, pensions and the other issues under discussion. We have agreed the fundamental principles on some of the key issues and talks are ongoing to finalise these and other areas. We believe we can reach agreement on an affordable and sustainable pension solution and a pay deal that will enable us to continue to innovate and grow.”
Shares in Royal Mail are currently trading down 0.87 percent at 463.12 (0844GMT).