- Profit guidance unchanged
- New date to be released "as soon as reasonably practicable"
The parent company of Royal Mail, International Distributions Services (IDS), has postponed its full-year results due to auditing delays.
The courier was due to publish figures for the year ended 31 March at 7am on 23 May. However, its auditors at KPMG have requested additional time to complete the “usual standard procedures after their internal reviews were late in the audit timetable, thereby delaying their final audit process”, IDS said.
IDS has not revealed when the results will be published. However, it said adjusted operating profit, excluding voluntary redundancy costs, should be “broadly in line” with earlier guidance. Forecasts published in January said the £169mn operating loss banked in the first half should be counteracted in the second half, leaving IDS at “about breakeven”.
Last week, the board of IDS tentatively backed a £3.5bn takeover approach from Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský. Křetínský offered 370p per share in the form of a non-binding proposal, 72.7 per cent above the group’s pre-offer closing price.
