Royal Mail shares slide as group announces 1300 job cuts

Royal Mail, which was recently floated on the stock exchange, has announced it is scrapping a total of 1300 roles in a cost-cutting drive, with shares falling as the initial cost of the cuts spooks investors.

The group - which was floated last October - said this morning it was proposing to cut a total of 1600 roles, while creating an additional 300. The job losses are intended to save the business £50m annually, but will cost the Royal Mail an extra £100m in '"transformation" costs this year, resulting in a total charge relating to modernising the business of £230m in its 2013-14 year. Moya Greene, chief executive of the Royal Mail, said: "We are continuously improving our efficiency, whilst maintaining our high Quality of Service. We need to do so in order to effectively compete in the l...