UK Mail declares Christmas period performance a success
BIRMINGHAM-based UK Mail Group has achieved revenue growth against a backdrop of solid performance during the busy Christmas trading period.
In an interim management statement covering the period October 1 to December 31, the logistics firm said that the good performance for the third quarter was in line with its previous expectations.
“Reported group revenues for the quarter showed an increase of some 6% compared to the same period in the previous year,” it said.
“Our parcels business delivered good volume growth of some 15% compared to the same period last year. As expected, parcels volume growth has moderated compared to the first half of the year, reflecting the higher growth levels we achieved in the second half of last year.”
UK Mail said volume growth in the third quarter was again partly driven by an increase in internet shopping related home deliveries, which resulted in a continuation of the mix change towards B2C seen in the first half.
“We invested in our network to ensure we could successfully handle such high peak volumes and as a result, our leading customer service levels were maintained throughout this very busy trading period,” the statement said.
“Our mail business achieved good revenue growth, due to a further increase in mail volumes. This growth continues to be driven by strong customer retention and new customer wins.
“Our courier business saw a slight decline in revenues, as expected.
“Our pallets business also saw a decline in revenues for the period, however we continue to invest in developing our pallets network in order to return to the sales levels previously achieved.”
Guy Buswell, chief executive of UK Mail, said: “I am pleased to report that we have again performed well during our peak Christmas trading period, maintaining our strong customer service levels even as volumes continued to increase.
“It is clear from weekly volume patterns that shoppers were, more than ever before, leaving their online Christmas shopping to the last minute, as consumers increasingly trust that online deliveries will arrive on time, as promised. This underlines the importance of our leading consumer-friendly services in which we continue to invest.
“We are making good progress with the strategic investment in our business. As previously announced, we have now received planning permission for our new central sortation hub near Coventry and our new one hour delivery window project is on target for implementation in the spring of 2014.”
