(Alliance News) – International Distributions Services PLC on Thursday reported a swing to a loss for financial 2023 mainly due to a decline in income in its Royal Mail segment in the United Kingdom.
The London-based letter and parcel delivery company swung to a pre-tax loss of GBP676 million in the 52 weeks ended March 26, compared with a profit of GBP662 million the previous year.
Revenue fell 5.3% to GBP12.04 billion from GBP12.71 billion, as revenue at Royal Mail fell 13% to GBP7.41 billion from GBP8.51 billion the previous year.
The group’s operating loss was GBP748 million, swinging from GBP577 million of profit. This reflected an operating loss at Royal Mail of GBP1.04 billion, swung from a profit of GBP250 million the previous year. GLS international division recorded an operating profit of GBP296 million, down 9.5% from GBP327 million.
Royal Mail suffered an adjusted operating loss of GBP419 million in the latest year, compared with a profit of GBP416 million the previous year, due to worker strikes.
The total basic loss per share for IDS as a whole was 91.3 pence, compared with earnings of 61.7p the previous year.
Non-executive chairman Keith Williams said he was pleased to have “moved on from the crossroads”, after reaching an agreement with the Communications Workers Union on pay and change last month, although members have yet to vote on the deal.”
Looking ahead, IDS said the trading environment remains uncertain for both Royal Mail and GLS. “All of our markets are affected by a challenging global economy, including high levels of inflation and expectations of lower future economic growth,” IDS said.
IDS expects to achieve an adjusted operating profit at group level in financial 2024, having fallen to a loss of GBP71 million in that financial line in 2023 from a profit of GBP758 million in 2022. 2027.
IDS has not declared any final dividend for the recent year nor has it paid an interim dividend. It had paid 20 pence per share for financial 2022, up from 10p in financial 2021.
The shares were down 1.2% at 219.47 pence each on Thursday morning in London.
By Xindi Wei, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All rights Reserved.
