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(Alliance News) - International Distributions Services PLC on Thursday reported a swing to loss for financial 2023 mainly due a revenue decline in its Royal Mail segment in the UK.
The London-based letter and package delivery company swung to a GBP676 million pretax loss in the 52 weeks that ended March 26, compared to a profit of GBP662 million the year before.
Revenue declined by 5.3% to GBP12.04 billion from GBP12.71 billion, as revenue in Royal Mail declined by 13% to GBP7.41 billion from GBP8.51 billion the year before.
Group operating loss was GBP748 million, swung from GBP577 million of profit. This reflected an operating loss at Royal Mail of GBP1.04 billion, swung from profit of GBP250 million the year before. International division GLS 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 recent year, compared to a profit of GBP416 million the year before, due to worker strikes.
Total basic loss per share for IDS as a whole was 91.3 pence, compared to earnings of 61.7p the year before.
Non-Executive Chair Keith Williams said he was pleased to have "moved on from the crossroads", after reaching an agreement with the Communication Workers Union on pay and change last month, though members are yet to vote on the deal."
Looking ahead, IDS said the trading environment continues to be uncertain for both Royal Mail and GLS. "All of our markets are impacted 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 a group level in financial 2024, having fallen to a GBP71 million loss on that line in financial 2023 from a profit of GBP758 million in financial 2022. It is targeting EUR500 million of adjusted operating profit for financial 2027.
IDS declared no final dividend for the recent year and had paid no interim dividend either. It had paid a 20 pence per share for financial 2022, up from 10p in financial 2021.
Shares were down 1.2% at 219.47 pence each on Thursday morning in London.
By Xindi Wei, Alliance News reporter
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