George Frangeskides, Chairman at ALBA, explains why the Pilbara Lithium option ‘was too good to miss’. Watch the video here.
DerekR thanks for the link which I will read later. Few questions which you may have answers too.
What's the current constrained profit level? Would the price control adjustment not only kick in when the business realises the/a profit on USO items?
Have you got any details of foreign administration whose volumes and revenue has dropped when their USO provision has reduced?
I personally don't see the change to the USO as some panacea but with Ofcom themselves suggesting a savings for the business surely its a prudent step to take to help manage costs?
Of course an equally critical component of the Christmas period is costs. If some offices are quieter than others they will hopefully be resourcing accordingly, no or reduced agency, no or reduced overtime, no or less extra hire vehicles etc. It may also show for some offices that the revisions that did take place got some of the volume reduction forecasts correct.
IMO Christmas cards/letter volumes will reduce and parcels will remain steady or show slight growth.
Broch what's the business sick absence currently running at? is that for the whole business? what period is the information from and is that a national figure you have access to? Good news if it is coming down in line with industry average. Really helpful if you can show the industry average figure as well as I've tried to check out a few competitors' numbers but struggle to find anything. I did see a generic figure quoted somewhere in the past. From memory I think I saw something around 6% quoted for delivery companies.
DerekR I've also missed the announcement re RM CEO. I checked a few sources including the business press releases. Have I missed it as well as the GLS one? MS may well be doing both jobs but where was it officially announced.
In line with all expectations. Pleasant surprise on dividend statement I personally thought that would be at FY after Christmas volumes and further impacts of change agenda. Favourable comments on quality and recruitment. Urging USO changes. With recent inflation news and pay rise levels hopefully the wider economy is seeing shoots of recovery and that will reflect in parcel growth and a bumper Christmas. Happy to stay invested.
Oligarch without knowing all the areas that were offered VR its difficult to assess the impacts on the network I get your point on 24/48 items and I am sure the business will look for the best/quickest way to handle these. The business obviously deemed at the time that the workforce had to be trimmed to help balance the books. Did some resource go from areas that were overstaffed and couldn't be used elsewhere such as any depots where work was concentrated?
As we have said Thursday's results will show the financial impacts and traffic volumes and a forward look on future plans.
RMG currently advertising for 692 posts significantly higher than previously. Of course, that means there are those vacancies, but it indicates they are looking to fill posts to improve service. With no revisions currently underway and new starts including agency can only help.
https://jobs.royalmailgroup.com/search/?createNewAlert=false&q=&locationsearch=
Q1 23/24 QoS report attached. Worth noting that some categories change and get added if anyone likes to do comparative analysis. E.G USO delay seems to be new.
https://www.internationaldistributionsservices.com/media/12099/quarterly-quality-of-service-and-complaints-report-2023-24-q1-final.pdf
Oligarch from memory I don't think the QoS figures are reported specifically at half year. These will be commented on I am sure, and I agree that the 2nd quarter figures like the 1st will show we are still missing targets. I am hoping to read that it is an improving picture and actions are being taken to address. It will be interesting to see if there are any trends when the 2nd quarter QoS report is issued (not sure if that will be before or after half year)
Short response from IDS
https://www.internationaldistributionsservices.com/en/press-centre/press-releases/international-distributions-services-plc/response-to-ofcom-announcement-on-quality-of-service-performance-2022-23/
Royal Mail fined £5.6m for missing delivery targets. Lets get all the bad news out before Thursday......
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67401045