Royal Mail 1st Half Revenue Rises Despite Amazon Competition

By Rory Gallivan

LONDON--Former state-owned U.K. delivery group Royal Mail PLC (RMG.LN) on Wednesday reported a rise in interim revenue, despite competition from online retailer Amazon.com Inc.(AMZN), but net profit fell as in the previous year it benefited from exceptional income related to its pension provision.

Revenue for the half year ended Sept. 28 rose to 4.53 billion pounds ($7.08 billion) from GBP4.52 billion in the previous year, while net profit fell to GBP125 million from GBP1.22 billion in the previous year, when it benefited from a pension plan amendment.

Royal Mail said revenue in its core U.K. operation was flat despite a reduction in the rate of growth of the addressable U.K. parcels market caused by the impact of Amazon's own-delivery network.

"Our performance remains in line with our expectations for the full year," said Chief Executive Moya Greene.

"But, as always, this depends on us delivering another great Christmas, for which we are fully prepared," she added.

Write to Rory Gallivan at [e-mail]; Twitter: @RoryGallivan

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires