Royal Mail profits down 21% on competition woes

Royal Mail suffered a 21% profit fall in the half year ending 28 September 2014, but beat analysts' expectations of a 30% drop.

Analysts were predicting profits at the postal service group, privatised last year, would fall by 29% to £252m, but they came in better than expected at £279m. This compared to £353m in the same six month period last year. The group also halved the expected growth of its UK parcel business to 1%-2% as a result of fierce competition from the likes of online retailer Amazon. Parcel revenue for the six month reporting period was down 1% at £1.5bn, with the "highly competitive environment" to blame. However, revenue growth came in at 2%, in line with expectations. Moya Greene, chief ex...