The company's Interim report for the half year ended 23 September 2012 shows that overall mail volumes have increased just over 6%. The number of 'traditional' letters, which includes anything from postcards to bills and bank statements, fell by 9%. However, the huge increase in stamp prices introduced in April this year means that revenue was still up by 2%.

The decline in the market for traditional letters was largely compensated for by an increase in parcel deliveries. The report learns that Royal Mail now carries just under 2.7m parcels a day; an increase of 5.6%. Dealing with increasing parcel volumes is now a key element of the company's transformation programme.

Although the report does not specify how much of the total volume of addressed letters (6.8bn) is advertising mail it does show that Royal Mail is delivering more unaddressed mail. The average household now gets just under 2.4 leaflets per week from their postie; and increase of 4%. It's just about the only figure in the report that is disappointing for Royal Mail. In March 2010 the company agreed with the Communications Workers' Union to abolish a cap that limited the amount of unaddressed mail items to three items per household per week. Royal Mail has since tried to increase its share in the market for leaflets. That the company is still delivering less than three leaflets per week to the average household shows it is struggling to compete with local leaflet distributors.

Sensationalist newspapers

Royal Mail's report is the main story for today's Daily Mail and also appears on the front page of the Daily Telegraph. Both papers claim that nearly half of all mail distributed in the UK is now junk mail. This statement is false; what the papers refer to as "junk mail" actually includes items such as invoices and bank statements. Royal Mail's director of media relations has confirmed to Stop Junk Mail that the report talks about addressed business mail in general and that the company does not have data about what is inside envelopes from businesses. He dismissed the Daily Mail's article as sensationalist.

The Independent wrote a much more informative article. The newspaper believes that the latest figures mean the privatisation of Royal Mail now looks like an imminent delivery.

Links

• Interim report for the half year ended 23 September 2012 (royalmailgroup.com)
• An avalanche of junk mail (dailymail.co.uk)
• Royal Mail: a £4bn sell-off waiting to be delivered (independent.co.uk)