# Royal Mail increases annual earnings despite staff cost pressures

By Russ Mould — 2026-06-23

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “There may be frustration among some investors that Royal Mail is only starting to deliver after its time on the stock market has come to an end.

“The privatisation of Royal Mail, while not quite a Tell Sid moment, generated plenty of investor enthusiasm which ultimately wasn’t matched by the company’s showing as a public company.

“Under the ownership of Czech entrepreneur Daniel Kretinsky, the previous trend of Royal Mail struggling and its international GLS parcel firm coming to the rescue seems to have been reversed.

“An agreement with unions, price increases and controversial service changes, which have attracted a fair degree of criticism, have helped Royal Mail increase profit despite a big increase in costs. Arguably it has been easier to make these changes outside the glare of the public markets.

“On the other hand, GLS has suffered from regulatory changes in Italy and a tricky trading environment in Canada.”

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