Stamp rises on the way?

When will the price of a stamp go up again?

When asked about putting up the price of First Class stamps today, Royal Mail's chief executive, Moya Greene, said: "It would be improper of me to give assurances on price."

The point is that Royal Mail now has the freedom to set whatever First Class price it wants. It went up from 46p to 60p in April.

Ofcom still controls 2nd Class, 50p at the moment, and has laid down that this can't rise above 55p (plus inflation).

Royal Mail's return to UK profit today lifts the pressure to raise prices a bit.

On the other hand a business with £3.6bn in revenue over just six months will be looking to make even more than the £99m operating profit reported for the half year to September.

The fact that a public sale of Royal Mail is pencilled in for next year will only spur them to boost income, to try to make the business look more attractive.

So brace yourselves for more stamp prices rises in the spring.

Daily postbag shrinks

The number of letters delivered each day by Royal Mail has shrunk by 4 million since last year.

The drop comes as email extends its hold, and families have to contend with higher stamp prices and financial pressures.

The daily postbag contains 54 million items, down from 58 million this time last year.

The figures emerged as Royal Mail revealed its financial results for the six months to September.

They featured a turnaround from UK losses of £41m in the UK last year to operating profits of £99m this time.

The total volume of letters of the six months fell by 9%, though letter revenue was up 2% - or £44m - following April's rise in stamp prices.

First class stamps went up from 46p to 60p, second class from 36p to 50p.

As genuine letters decline, junk mail is taking over the typical postbag. Marketing mail is approaching half of all letters.

The number of unaddressed letters and fliers has actually been rising.

Royal Mail boss's pay

In the light of the hike in the price of a First Class stamp to 60p, you might be wondering about the pay packet awarded to Royal Mail's Canadian chief executive, Moya Greene.

Last year she took home £637,000.

Her basic was £498,000 but she arrived during the year so she only received £350,000.

Then there was a performance bonus of £142,000.

And £145,000 for extras, including the cost of moving to the UK.

Moya Greene used to run Canada Post and she had a hand in privatising Canada's railways and deregulating the airline business.