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Britain's government on Wednesday announced plans to privatise more than half of Royal Mail/AFP

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Britain to privatise majority of Royal Mail

But Cable told parliament: “The government has decided to proceed with a flotation of Royal Mail with shares on the London Stock Exchange via an initial public offering.”

Reports suggest that the government plans to keep a 49 percent stake.

Royal Mail has recently enjoyed a surge in annual profits thanks to the increasing popularity of online shopping which generates parcel traffic, and owing also to deep cost cutting and big increases in stamp prices.

Media reports say the part sale of Royal Mail could worth up to £3.0 billion ($4.5 billion, 3.5 billion euros). The government previously said that it intends to take on Royal Mail’s pension fund, including its hefty deficit.

The Conservative Liberal Democrat government relaunched plans to part-privatise Royal Mail three years ago and after the proposal was ditched by the former Labour administration.

Former prime minister Gordon Brown’s Labour government scrapped the sell off plans in 2009 as Britain struggled with recession following the global financial crisis.

But Royal Mail recently announced that its profit after tax soared to £566 million in 2012-13 compared with a net gain of £149 million during its previous financial year. Revenue grew almost 6.0 percent to £9.279 billion.

Royal Mail continues to operate most British postal services even though its more than 350 year long monopoly of the letter delivery business ended in 2006 as new rules kicked in to allow rival operators to win a slice of the market.

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