UK's Royal Mail plans to cut 700 jobs

Britain’s Royal Mail expects to cut 700 managerial jobs as part of a reorganisation plan, the company said on Tuesday, and lowered its profit outlook for the year due to the anticipated costs.

Shares in the company, one of the world’s oldest postal companies, rose 3.5% as it identified around 220 million pounds of savings to deal with expected cost pressures.

In mid-2020, Royal Mail announced plans to lay off 2,000 of its staff, mostly back-office workers and some frontline managers.

“As a next step, subject to consultation, we intend to further simplify and streamline our operational structures to ensure an improved focus on local performance, and devolve more accountability and flexibility to frontline operational managers,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Royal Mail also reported a 2.4% drop in revenue for the three months to December after a slower-than-expected rise in volumes around Black Friday. Revenue is still up 17% from 2019 levels.

Royal Mail’s UK business now expects adjusted operating profit of around 430 million pounds ($579.21 million), from an earlier forecast of 500 million pounds.