Royal Mail share price: Group’s chief executive intervenes in row with union

Royal Mail Group’s (LON:RMG) chief executive has intervened in the postal operator’s talks with its main union, raising hopes that a mass Christmas strike by postal workers can be averted, City A.M. has reported. The move comes after the Communication Workers Union (CWU) marched in London last week, against the proposed changes to the group’s pension plan.

Royal Mail’s share price has been subdued in today’s session, having given up 0.86 percent to 385.84p as of 13:37 BST, underperforming the mid-cap FTSE 250 index which is currently 0.08 percent down at 20,131.28 points. The group’s shares have given up more than 21 percent of their value over the past year, and are down by some 16 percent in the year-to-date.

Moya Greene intervenes

City A.M. reported today that the CWU had revealed that it had held lengthy talks with Royal Mail’s chief executive Moya Greene. The newswire quoted union’s deputy secretary Terry Pullinger as saying that during the five-hour ‘serious meeting’ with Greene, the privatised postal operator had indicated it was prepared to meet some of the union’s demands. Pullinger noted that the meeting was perhaps “something that should have happened far earlier in the negotiations”.

“Now what became clear to me is Moya Greene told me that they want an agreement,” he pointed out. City A.M. further quoted a spokesman for Royal Mail as saying that the group was “very committed to working closely with the CWU in order to reach agreement on pay, pensions and other issues”.

Analysts on Royal Mail

The 15 analysts offering 12-month price targets for Royal Mail for the Financial Times have a median target of 450.00p on the shares, with a high estimate of 590.00p and a low estimate of 320.00p. As of October 20, the consensus forecast amongst 17 polled investment analysts covering the blue-chip group advises investors to hold their position in the company. Royal Mail is scheduled to update investors on its half-year performance on November 16. 

As of 14:07 BST, Monday, 23 October, Royal Mail share price is 384.90p.