Royal Mail has reported a half-year loss and warned that up to 6,000 employees will be made redundant by August 2023.
Parent company International Distributions Services plc said that Royal Mail made an adjusted operating loss of £219m for the first half of the current financial year, compared to a profit of £235m a year ago.
Around £70m of this year’s loss was attributed to “direct negative impacts” from three days of industrial action.
Consultations will be held on “rightsizing the business” in response to the impact of industrial action, delays in improving productivity and lower parcel volumes, the company said.
The plain aims to reduce the overall headcount by a total of 10,000, including through reductions in overtime, temporary staff and natural attrition as well as 5,000 to 6,000 redundancies in frontline roles in delivery and processing.
The company currently employs 140,000 people.
Royal Mail expects to make a full-year loss of around £350m. This includes the impact of eight days of industrial action as well as lower volumes of parcels.
The company warned that this year’s loss could increase to around £450m “if customers move volume away for longer periods” following strike action.
