British factory output and orders increased, but exports lagging behind business

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling reports on the world economy, financial markets, the Eurozone and business.

Profit Royal Mail As the pandemic drove a surge in household demand for parcel delivery during the lockdown period, prices soared.

However, due to the overwhelming uncertainty, the company postponed the provision of forecasts for this year. Compared with the first lock in April 2020, the volume of packages dropped slightly last month.

After the very busy hours of British postmen and ladies, the Royal Mail reported that pre-tax profits jumped to £726 million In the 12 months to the end of March, 180 million pounds Previous year.

Adjusted operating profit also more than doubled, jumping to £702 million From 325 million pounds.

In the 12 months to the end of March, revenue increased by 16%, mainly due to the strong package growth of Royal Mail and its logistics company GLS.

Indeed, last year’s parcel delivery revenue exceeded that of letters for the first time. Driven by the e-commerce shopping boom, Royal Mail’s parcel revenue increased by 38.7%, while letter revenue fell by 12.5%.

But the pandemic has also increased costs, and Royal Mail’s operating costs have increased by 9.2%.

In April, due to the relaxation of lockdown measures in the UK, the number of packages dropped and more stores reopened:

Transactions in April 2021: Royal Mail’s revenue increased by 24.1% year-on-year, and GLS increased by 22.3% year-on-year. Royal Mail parcels decreased by 2%, and letters (excluding elections) increased by 25%. By mid-April, GLS’s package shipment growth has remained strong, and given the large volume of shipments last year, the subsequent growth rate has slowed down.

Chairman Keith Williams explained how the pandemic has changed the business:

Parcels now account for 72% of the group’s revenue. The pandemic has accelerated the trends we have seen in the market over the years. In five centuries of history, packages rather than letters provided the Royal Mail with most of its revenue.

Similarly, in GLS, more than half of our content comes from B2C, while only five years ago, two-thirds came from B2B. GLS successfully completed this transition and achieved the highest profit in 13 years.

However, Williams also warned that “uncertainty” may affect next year’s transaction volume and costs, so it is difficult to provide “Royal Mail” with specific guidance for 2021-22.

He said that the result “much beyond the initial expectations.”

However, we incurred significant additional costs related to COVID-19 in Royal Mail and GLS.

In the UK, we also incurred additional costs related to delivering more packages and fewer letters, as well as the reorganization of our management in the UK.

Come today too

After yesterday’s chaotic trading, today’s cryptocurrency market looks calmer. Bitcoin once fell by 30% to $30,000, and has now risen to nearly $40,000.

After Ark Investment Management CEO Casey Wood, who has invested in several crypto-related companies, stated that Ark Motors still set a target price of $500,000 as Bitcoin, Bitcoin was able to recover. Bitcoin.

She told Bloomberg TV.

“We have gone through such a deliberate era and scratched the model. Yes, our beliefs are equally high.

I think we are in the surrender stage. No matter what the asset is, this is a time to buy. “

Elon Musk’s recent criticism of Bitcoin’s energy use led to recent losses, and he also hinted that Tesla’s “handed over diamonds” would not be sold.

But other crypto assets are still under pressure-Ethereum has fallen 12% in the past 24 hours-as the industry has absorbed yesterday’s turmoil.

The European market is set to rebound this morning, and yesterday recovered some of the losses due to a new round of inflation worries hitting the stock market.

In the transportation world, British Railways is undergoing its biggest adjustment since the 1990s, and today the government has released its long-awaited overhaul plan.

The British Railways will terminate the franchise system introduced 25 years ago. The private company will still run the service, but in accordance with the management contract, similar to the system on the ground in London.

Our transport reporter White topham Explanation:

The railway industry will be simplified, but it will still be privatized as the renamed Great Britain Railway Company. The government will promise at the time of publication The long-awaited overhaul Thursday.

The white paper will place the control of railway infrastructure and services under new institutions that maintain a certain distance from public institutions, while franchising rights are replaced by contracts, which will incentivize private companies to incentivize on time and efficiently rather than increase revenue .

The British Railways will operate and plan the network and provide online ticketing, information and compensation to passengers across the country.

It will simplify and simplify fares, including the expansion of contactless and pay-as-you-go systems to more regions of the country.

Agenda

• 11 am BST: CBI May Industrial Trend Survey
• 1.30pm GMT: Weekly unemployment figures in the United States