Cable refuses to apologise over Royal Mail sale April 1, 2014 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable yesterday refused to apologise over the privatisation of Royal Mail despite mounting criticism that the postal operator had been sold off too cheaply. In a heated House of Commons debate, Cable said “the last thing” he intended to do was apologise and that taking a more aggressive approach on pricing would [...]
Pricing Royal Mail: Welcome to the free market April 1, 2014 LIKE several hundred thousand other ordinary investors, I emerged from Royal Mail’s flotation with 227 shares in my Isa. I don’t normally apply for Initial Public Offerings (IPO), and this one certainly didn’t come without risks. The terms of privatisation required the company to preserve the universal service and Saturday deliveries, which have been dropped [...]
Government hits back over Royal Mail privatisation April 1, 2014 The government has defended the way in which Royal Mail was privatised last year. Ministers have taken to the airwaves after the National Audit Office (NAO) published a report concluding that the government undervalued Royal Mail at the expense of the taxpayer. Amyas Morse, head of the NAO, said: The department was very keen to [...]
Watchdog slams Royal Mail sale March 31, 2014 THE GOVERNMENT was too cautious and massively undervalued Royal Mail at the expense of taxpayers, the spending watchdog has said today, in a highly critical report into the £3.3bn sale of the postal operator. In a damning verdict published this morning, the National Audit Office (NAO) concluded that Vince Cable’s department for business, innovation and [...]
Bottom Line: Royal Mail proves markets trump politics March 31, 2014 ON ITS first day as a listed company in February, shares in AO.com rose by 33 per cent. Three weeks later, Poundland followed suit; jumping 23 per cent on its debut and making millionaires of several of its senior managers. Other players in London’s recent initial public offering (IPO) boom haven’t fared so well; Just [...]
Royal Mail veteran Allan Leighton announced as chair of Peppa Pig owner March 31, 2014 Allan Leighton, chief executive of jewellery company Pandora and former chairman of Royal Mail, has been appointed chairman of Entertainment One, who jointly own, with Astley Baker Davies, popular children's TV programme Peppa Pig. Leighton is a boardroom heavyweight; he's been chief executive of Asda, chairman of lastminute.com, and on the board of BSkyB. Chairman James Corsellis has stepped [...]
Union threatens walkouts over Royal Mail cuts March 25, 2014 ROYAL MAIL yesterday unveiled plans to axe 1,600 jobs, a move that one union warned could provoke strikes. The postal company, which said during its privatisation in October that it would be cutting costs, confirmed yesterday the job losses will hit managers in operations and head office. Royal Mail said that it has “a strong [...]
Royal Mail set to axe 1,600 jobs March 25, 2014 Royal Mail has outlined proposals to cut the number of jobs at the company by 1,600 as part of its continued efficiency programme. However, Royal Mail hopes to create 300 new roles taking net reduction of jobs to 1,300. The majority of those impacted work in the company's operational and managerial departments. The programme is [...]
Royal Mail gets thumbs up from HSBC with “overweight” rating March 21, 2014 Royal Mail has laid strong foundations through its modernisation programme and can still deliver growth, according to a research note released by HSBC Global Research. The bank is initiating the company at "overweight" with DCF-driven target price of 710p. Since the Royal Mail's IPO it has significantly more flexibility to head off volume decline. the [...]
Royal Mail wins work with 14 London boroughs March 17, 2014 ROYAL Mail has seen off competition from two other postal companies to sign a two-year deal to deliver council documents for nearly half of London’s boroughs, the firm confirmed yesterday. The postal group, which was part-privatised in a stock market float in October, has provided the service for several boroughs previously, but the new contract [...]