The price of shares in Royal Mail (LON:RMG) has increased by 5.14% to 451.80p (as of 12:20 GMT) after posting results for the nine months ended 31st December. The company reported that revenues for the period were up 13.5% year-on-year as both Royal Mail and GLS branded volumes rose substantially.
Non-executive Chair Keith Williams commented: “The third quarter saw unprecedented parcel volumes in Royal Mail, driven by online shopping and the peak Christmas period, with 496 million parcels handled, the busiest in our company’s long history. The decline in addressed letter volumes slowed to 14% in Q3, with a decline of 9% in December, compared to around a third earlier in the year, excluding the impact of elections.
GLS also saw elevated volumes and delivered 228 million parcels in the third quarter, growth of 27%.
[…] Given the stronger than anticipated trading, primarily driven by further COVID-19 restrictions and improved letter volumes, we now expect group adjusted operating profit to be well in excess of £500 million for FY2020-21“.