British express parcels company City Link reduced its losses in the first quarter of 2009 despite a10.7% revenue drop and an 8% fall in volumes, parent group Rentokil Initial said in its recent Q1
trading results.City Link’s first quarter operating loss of £6.1 million was 60.4% less than the £15.4million reported in the first quarter of last year, and is broadly similar to last year’sunderlying loss after taking account of £9.1 million of unusual costs booked last year.
This was achieved despite corresponding revenues being 10.7% lower than Q1, 2008 at £85million. Compared to Q4 2008, total operating costs fell by £10.1 million (10%), albeit on revenuesome £12.2 million below the Q4 2008 seasonal peak. Q1 parcels volumes were down 8.1% on Q1 2008and revenue per consignment (RPC) weakened by 3.8% on Q1 2008.
City Link’s customer base has remained broadly consistent with recent quarters although manyare trading at lower levels, Rentokil Initial said. Customer Service levels improved further duringthe quarter and are now consistently above 99%. Implementation of actions to restore customer callhandling to depots is proceeding to plan and will be completed on schedule by the end of Q2.
The delivery company continued to target operating costs during the first quarter. Deliveryvehicle fleet numbers were reduced by approximately 13% and total employee numbers fell by 8%. Thenumber of depots was reduced from 98 to 91.
