Royal Mail PLC (LSE:RMG) confirmed its name has changed to International Distributions Services PLC (LSE:IDS) – which it threatened earlier this year could be the precursor to breaking the group in two.
The FTSE 250-listed postal group, which is facing ongoing problems with employee relations and a decline from the heights of demand it enjoyed during pandemic lockdowns, announced the change in July.
Its change of name “has now taken effect,” it said, though its name on the London Stock Exchange and its own website remained unchanged.
READ: Royal Mail: what’s in a name?
From 8am on Wednesday 5 October, its stock market TIDM code will change from RMG to IDS, though its other codes will remain unchanged.
International Distributions Services will be the name for the listed holding company, with the Royal Mail name remaining for its UK letters and parcels business.
“Our intention is to have clearer financial separation with no cross subsidy,” the company said in July, reflecting the “increased importance” of its Amsterdam-based international parcels group GLS.
Investors’ shareholdings and share certificates will be unaffected by the change of name.
Time for change?
Amid a structural decline in the UK letters business and with the board wanting to increase automation and efficiency, relations have been strained with staff, who have launched a series of postal strikes this summer, with 19 days of industrial action planned across important days such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
“In the event that significant operational change within Royal Mail in the UK is not achieved, the board will consider all options to protect the value and prospects of the group, including separation of the two companies,” the group said when the change was first announced.
Since then, talks with unions have broken down, with the group outlining its desire to scrap workplace agreements with staff that have been in place since the company was privatised nine years ago.
Bosses argued the company needs to act to stem daily losses of £1mln seen in the past quarter.
Analyst Victoria Scholar at Interactive Investor said: “Royal Mail has had a tough time in the UK amid an onslaught of nimble competitors, ongoing strike action and a structural decline in letter volumes resulting in a quarterly loss of £92mln in the UK... Whether this will be enough to offset its more than 60% share price slide this year is yet to be seen.”