Royal Mail has seen its revenues rise on the back of higher stamp prices and record numbers of postal votes in the general election, despite anger over delays to ballot paper deliveries.
The postal company’s owner, International Distribution Services (IDS), which is the subject of a £3.6bn takeover bid from a Czech billionaire, said that letter revenues rose 11.2% in the three months to the end of June.
Deliveries of postal vote returns increased by 50% compared with the election in December 2019, and 30% more candidate mail was delivered than in the run-up to that poll.
Royal Mail was criticised before the election as concerned voters fretted over delays to their ballot papers. Some did not arrive in time before holidaymakers headed abroad and the then postal affairs minister, Kevin Hollinrake, claimed there was a “resourcing issue” in Royal Mail.
At the time, the company denied that there was a backlog in postal votes and said it was delivering the ballot packs as soon as they arrived in its network from local councils.
The delays even raised the prospect of close results in constituencies being challenged in the high court because of delayed postal votes.
On Thursday, Royal Mail said 7.3m completed postal votes had been posted. It delivered 50.8m polling cards, and 184m pieces of candidate mail. However, excluding election mail, letter volumes fell 4%.
Martin Seidenberg, group chief executive of IDS, said: “I am proud and thankful for all the extra effort our postmen and women put in to play our part in delivering democracy.”
The company’s revenues were also boosted by an increase in stamp prices. In April, the price of a first class stamp increased by 10p to £1.35, with second class rising from 75p to 85p.
IDS group revenues rose 8.2% to £3.3bn in the first quarter of its financial year, with Royal Mail making a £2bn contribution, up 10.6%, and a further £1.3bn deriving from its international parcels arm, GLS, a 4.8% increase.
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The financial update comes as the Czech tycoon Daniel Křetínský progresses his bid to take IDS private, 11 years after Royal Mail was turned into a listed company under the coalition government.
Křetínský has faced questions over his long-term intentions for Royal Mail and the dealings of his longtime business partners.
The low-profile energy tycoon, who also owns stakes in West Ham United and Sainsbury’s, this week told the BBC he would honour a commitment to deliver throughout the UK six days a week “as long as I live”.
On Thursday, the company set up to acquire said that it was “fully committed” to the statutory obligation, and supported a proposal by Royal Mail to pare back second class deliveries to every other weekday. It has also agreed with the government not to sell Royal Mail or GLS for at least three years.