Bengaluru — Election-related letters and growth from its continental European parcel business helped Britain’s Royal Mail to eke out a 1% gain in first-quarter revenue, the resilience boosting its shares. After years of underinvestment, the former monopoly was privatised in 2013 and has since reduced layers of management, upgraded technology and cut its property bill. However, it was left struggling in 2016 as its domestic parcels business faced stiff competition and as uncertainty following Britain’s vote to leave the EU worsened the rate of decline in its letters business. Against this backdrop, Royal Mail said that increased revenue from political mail related to Britain’s June 8 general election meant that its postal business helped to limit the damage in the first quarter to June 25. Revenue from the business fell 4% in the three months, versus a 3% decline a year ago but better than a 5% drop over 2016 as a whole. "Royal Mail has emerged as the one clear winner of last month’s...
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