By Rory Gallivan
LONDON--Former state-owned U.K. delivery group Royal Mail PLC
(RMG.LN) on Wednesday reported a rise in interim revenue, despite
competition from online retailer Amazon.com Inc.(AMZN), but net
profit fell as in the previous year it benefited from exceptional
income related to its pension provision.
Revenue for the half year ended Sept. 28 rose to 4.53 billion
pounds ($7.08 billion) from GBP4.52 billion in the previous year,
while net profit fell to GBP125 million from GBP1.22 billion in the
previous year, when it benefited from a pension plan amendment.
Royal Mail said revenue in its core U.K. operation was flat
despite a reduction in the rate of growth of the addressable U.K.
parcels market caused by the impact of Amazon's own-delivery
network.
"Our performance remains in line with our expectations for the
full year," said Chief Executive Moya Greene.
"But, as always, this depends on us delivering another great
Christmas, for which we are fully prepared," she added.
Write to Rory Gallivan at rory.gallivan@wsj.com; Twitter:
@RoryGallivan
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