THE Royal Mail yesterday reported a 20 per cent increase in profits but revealed that the number of letters it was handling had fallen, only weeks before the industry is thrown open to full competition.
Operating profits for the first half of the financial year were £159m, an increase of £27m on a year ago.
The improvement was driven by better financial performance in the Royal Mail's European parcels, Parcelforce and the Post Office side of the business.
However, on the letters side, Royal Mail said a fall in volumes led to a three per cent dip in operating profits to £168m
Profitable bulk mail, used by the organisation's biggest customers, slumped by 7.1 per cent, first class letters fell by 4.2 per cent and second class by 3.8 per cent
Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton said: "These latest results underline the massive and unprecedented challenges facing Royal Mail."
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