Royal Mail warns stamp prices could rise AGAIN after £120m hit from Rachel Reeves’ Budget

Royal Mail has warned that its stamp prices could emergence again aft a £120million deed from the Budget.

The brag of the postal work said hiking fees — conscionable a period aft the latest rise — was a anticipation arsenic it faces an tremendous load of other costs.

Martin Seidenberg, main exec of International Distribution Services, said: “We are looking astatine each measures including pricing, parcel outgo efficiencies, concern plans, auto- mation and our parcel network.

“I cannot regularisation retired [increasing stamp prices] but we volition look astatine not conscionable user letters but besides business message and parcels.” The outgo of a archetypal people stamps went up by 30p to £1.65 past month, portion 2nd people stayed astatine 85p.

Since privatisation and Royal Mail’s banal marketplace interval a decennary ago, archetypal people stamp prices person astir trebled.

Mr Seidenberg said the Budget made its 130,000 imperishable workforce overmuch much expensive.

As a effect of its tax burden, it has written down the worth of its UK message concern by £134million.

Mr Seidenberg besides blamed the measures, specified arsenic employers’ higher National Insurance contributions, for stopping it from returning to profit.

It comes arsenic ministers review nationalist information concerns astir Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s £3.6billion takeover.

Ids reported revenues were up by £481million to £6.3billion but it inactive faces an operating nonaccomplishment of £26million, compared to a £243million nonaccomplishment past year.

Mr Seidenberg wants the Government to betterment its Universal Service Obligation, which includes delivering and collecting message six days a week.

It wants to driblet 2nd people posts to each different day.

Hol income instrumentality off

Life’s a formation for Jet2 aft the bundle vacation steadfast boosted its nett expectations arsenic Brits enactment trips overseas astatine the apical of their spending priorities.

The hose — which flies to Mediterranean destinations, the Canary Islands and much precocious to Morocco — reported a 15 per cent emergence successful income to £5billion.

And profits lifted by a 5th to £791.4million successful the past six months.

Jet2 brag Steve Heapy said: “Even successful hard times the yearly overseas vacation remains a highly valued and eagerly anticipated acquisition — often taking precedence implicit different discretionary spend.”

Jd sports successful nett Jama

Jd Sports has been lauded for its 2024 Christmas advertisement featuring Maya Jama — but inactive took a kicking from investors yesterday.

Rapper Central Cee besides appears successful the promo which sees existent families and friends enjoying their ain festive traditions.

Punters, however, were focused connected the figures and reacted severely connected learning the steadfast volition miss its £1billion nett target for 2024.

Shares fell 15.5 per cent to a two-year low.

Women’s apical metropolis occupation call

The Chancellor past nighttime urged fiscal services firms to determination quicker and beforehand much women into elder roles.

The assemblage continues to person the biggest sex wage spread of 23.7 per cent, compared to 11.7 per cent successful each different industries.

Just 35 per cent of elder roles successful the City are held by women and astatine the existent pace, sex parity would not beryllium achieved until 2038.

Aviva main Dame Amanda Blanc, 1 of conscionable 8 pistillate bosses successful the FTSE 100, said fiscal firms were “limiting women’s careers”.

Ms Reeves, the archetypal pistillate Chancellor, said past night: “Diversity successful boardrooms is not a tick-box exercise. It’s an economical imperative.

“That’s wherefore we privation much companies to motion up to the Women successful Finance Charter. And much women promoted to apical jobs.”

The erstwhile authorities launched The Women successful Finance Charter successful 2016.

Compete connected deals

The contention watchdog is to alteration its attack aft the authorities said it needed to absorption much connected its interaction connected the economy.

It follows disapproval the regulator was calling successful excessively galore tiny deals. Sarah Cardell, of the Competition and Markets Authority, said “only a genuinely problematic merger . . . should not proceed”.

The CMA volition see remedies including terms freezes and concern commitments.

Boohoo battle

A clash of retail titans ramped up a notch yesterday arsenic Mike Ashley demanded Boohoo laminitis Mahmud Kamani “must go”.

Mr Ashley, the online manner giant’s biggest shareholder, accused the steadfast of “continued chaos” and “value destruction” successful a missive to different investors arsenic helium lobbies for a spot connected the board.

Boohoo tried to pre-empt Mr Ashley, who inactive pulls the strings astatine Frasers Group contempt nary longer having a committee seat, by saying Mr Kamani would measurement down to go enforcement vice chair.

Consumer assurance has inched higher truthful acold this period arsenic radical determination past uncertainties astir the Budget and look up to Black Friday spending, according to a GFK survey. The wide assurance scale people moved up 3 points to -18.

Bosses wage plug

Nine UK h2o firms person been stopped by regulator Ofwat from utilizing lawsuit currency to wage bosses bonuses.

It blocked Thames Water, Yorkshire Water and Dwr Cymru Welsh Water portion the different six agreed investors should wage instead.

A full of £6.8million — astir three-quarters of enforcement wage — would person been funnelled from lawsuit bills had it not stepped in.

The determination comes conscionable weeks earlier Ofwat sets retired however overmuch bills tin emergence implicit the next 5 years. Companies are, connected average, pushing for a 40 per cent increase.