Woodford buys into Royal Mail as income fund swells

Neil Woodford has added a new position in Royal Mail to his £2.4bn Woodford Equity Income fund as the company's share price began to falter this year.

Shares in the firm have fallen by a third since hitting highs of 615p in January, but Woodford said the long-term opportunities had been overlooked. "Since its IPO last year, the shares initially performed very strongly but have since come back to more attractive territory," he said. "This is fundamentally a very attractive, cash generative business. It has its challenges, not least the competitive threat in profitable, densely populated areas. "But it has its opportunities too, such as slowly working to bring its cost base into line with its competitors." Elsewhere, the manager...