International Distributions Services, parent of British postal group Royal Mail, said Thursday it had sunk into an annual loss following mass strike action at the former state monopoly.

IDS reported a loss after tax of £873 million ($1.1 billion) in the 12 months to the end of March against a net profit of £612 million in 2021/22.

Revenue dropped five per cent to £12 billion.

"Quality of service has been significantly affected by industrial action and high levels of absence," said Keith Williams, independent non-executive chair at IDS.&nbsp;

"I am sorry that we have not delivered the high standards of service our customers expect. Improving quality of service is our top priority," he added.

Shares in IDS traded down 0.7 per cent in London midday deals.

The results update comes after Royal Mail last week confirmed the upcoming departure of its chief executive.

Simon Thompson will leave at the end of October, following criticism by UK lawmakers on the recent performance at Royal Mail.

The company had been blighted in its last financial year by industrial action, with thousands of workers protesting over wages failing to keep pace with soaring inflation.

Thompson axed 10,000 Royal Mail jobs last year, or about seven per cent of its workforce, blaming the move partly on the strikes.

Royal Mail finally agreed a deal with union bosses in April, which includes a 10-per cent pay rise for staff over three years.

Britain's annual inflation rate remains stubbornly above 10 per cent, prolonging a cost-of-living crisis for millions of people.

Set up more than 500 years ago, Royal Mail has experienced some of its most turbulent times during the past decade, particularly following its controversial privatisation in 2013.

The firm's core letters business has been ravaged as consumers increasingly go online to communicate.

However, it enjoyed booming demand for parcel deliveries during Britain's Covid lockdowns -- and played a vital role delivering test kits and protective clothing in the pandemic.

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International Distributions Services, parent of British postal group Royal Mail, said Thursday it had sunk into an annual loss following mass strike action at the former state monopoly.

International Distributions Services, parent of British postal group Royal Mail, said Thursday it had sunk into an annual loss following mass strike action at the former state monopoly. IDS reported a loss after tax of £873 million ($1.1 billion) in the 12 months to the end of March against a net profit of £612 million in 2021/22. Revenue dropped five per cent to £12 billion. "Quality of service has been significantly affected by industrial action and high levels of absence," said Keith Williams, independent non-executive chair at IDS. "I am sorry that we have not delivered the high standards of service our customers expect. Improving quality of service is our top priority," he added. Shares in IDS traded down 0.7 per cent in London midday deals. The results update comes after Royal Mail last week confirmed the upcoming departure of its chief executive. Simon Thompson will leave at the end of October, following criticism by UK lawmakers on the recent performance at Royal Mail. The company had been blighted in its last financial year by industrial action, with thousands of workers protesting over wages failing to keep pace with soaring inflation. Thompson axed 10,000 Royal Mail jobs last year, or about seven per cent of its workforce, blaming the move partly on the strikes. Royal Mail finally agreed a deal with union bosses in April, which includes a 10-per cent pay rise for staff over three years. Britain's annual inflation rate remains stubbornly above 10 per cent, prolonging a cost-of-living crisis for millions of people. Set up more than 500 years ago, Royal Mail has experienced some of its most turbulent times during the past decade, particularly following its controversial privatisation in 2013. The firm's core letters business has been ravaged as consumers increasingly go online to communicate. However, it enjoyed booming demand for parcel deliveries during Britain's Covid lockdowns -- and played a vital role delivering test kits and protective clothing in the pandemic. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Royal Mail parent sinks into red on costly UK strikes

UK postal service Royal Mail on Wednesday said it was hit by a cyberattack following which its international letter and parcel services suffered a severe disruption.

UK postal service Royal Mail on Wednesday said it was hit by a cyberattack following which its international letter and parcel services suffered a severe disruption. "Royal Mail is experiencing severe service disruption to our international export services following a cyber incident. We are temporarily unable to despatch export items including letters and parcels to overseas destinations," the company informed in a statement. It urged the customers to stop sending any international mail and apologised for the inconvenience. "We would like to sincerely apologise to impacted customers for any disruption this incident may be causing." We're experiencing disruption to our international export services and are temporarily unable to despatch items to overseas destinations. We strongly advise customers to hold any export items while we work to resolve the issue. Sorry for any disruption this may cause. — Royal Mail (@RoyalMail) January 11, 2023 × The company, however, added the import operations were working and that efforts were underway to rectify the issue. "Our import operations continue to perform a full service with some minor delays. Our teams are working around the clock to resolve this disruption and we will update customers as soon as we have more information.” Notably, this is not the first time that UK's leading postal service has been failed by technology. In November last year, an outage led to the Royal Mail's tracking services being unavailable for over 24 hours. WATCH | UK: Royal Mail workers begin Christmas strikes; several sectors to strike over pay issue | WION × Postal workers at the Royal Mail have been going on repeated strikes since August 2022 demanding a pay rise that keeps up with the current cost of living in the UK. The workers went on a strike during the Christmas weekend, hampering the mail services across the country. Such has been the situation that International Distribution Service, the parent firm of Royal Mail announced that it was planning to lay off as many as 10,000 employees. "Our operational full-time employee workforce will need to reduce by an estimated 10,000 by the end of August 2023." Read more: UK's Royal Mail seeks to slash up to 10,000 jobs; attributes losses to industrial strike Royal Mail delivers letters and parcels to over 231 countries and territories worldwide. Despite recording a drop in revenue of more than 10 per cent last year, the company managed to deliver more than 150 million parcels. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

UK's Royal Mail suffers a cyberattack, services face 'severe' disruption

Royal Mail delivery staff in the United Kingdom launched a 48-hour strike on Friday, a move attached to a worsening dispute over pay. Postal deliveries across the country were hit after Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) walked out.&nbsp;

The union said the walkout by about 115,000 of its members is the biggest strike of the year amid long-running disputes in other sectors. The two sides held talks on Thursday, but there was no sign of any progress. The union is reportedly planning to step up industrial action in the coming weeks.

Another 19 days of strikes are on the cards on different days throughout October and November in a significant escalation of the dispute.

Dave Ward, the CWU’s general secretary, was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera, “This is a significant announcement, but it is one which matches the level of anger our members feel at the way Royal Mail Group has treated them."

“The chief executive of Royal Mail Group is treating postal workers as if they are stupid. These are the same people that have kept the country connected and returned Royal Mail Group to record profit,” he said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Royal Mail said the impact of CWU's action will be seen on the company's financial position and the job security of its members.

“Royal Mail is losing one million pounds ($1.1 million) a day. We operate in a competitive market, and our customers have choices. Continued strike action will force our customers to make those choices sooner rather than later,” the spokesman said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Royal Mail delivery staff in the United Kingdom launched a 48-hour strike on Friday, a move attached to a worsening dispute over pay. Postal deliveries across the country were hit after Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) walked out.

Royal Mail delivery staff in the United Kingdom launched a 48-hour strike on Friday, a move attached to a worsening dispute over pay. Postal deliveries across the country were hit after Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) walked out. The union said the walkout by about 115,000 of its members is the biggest strike of the year amid long-running disputes in other sectors. The two sides held talks on Thursday, but there was no sign of any progress. The union is reportedly planning to step up industrial action in the coming weeks. Another 19 days of strikes are on the cards on different days throughout October and November in a significant escalation of the dispute. Dave Ward, the CWU’s general secretary, was quoted as saying by Al Jazeera, “This is a significant announcement, but it is one which matches the level of anger our members feel at the way Royal Mail Group has treated them." “The chief executive of Royal Mail Group is treating postal workers as if they are stupid. These are the same people that have kept the country connected and returned Royal Mail Group to record profit,” he said. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Royal Mail said the impact of CWU's action will be seen on the company's financial position and the job security of its members. “Royal Mail is losing one million pounds ($1.1 million) a day. We operate in a competitive market, and our customers have choices. Continued strike action will force our customers to make those choices sooner rather than later,” the spokesman said. (With inputs from agencies)

Postal deliveries hit across UK as Royal Mail workers strike over pay dispute