Royal Mail revealed its poorest delivery performance in three years, in figures published this week.
The statistics showed that in its first quarter, Royal Mail failed to meet any of its 15 annual minimum service quality targets set by Postcomm, the United Kingdom's postal regulator.
From April through June, only 88.3 percent of First-Class letters were delivered the next working day, Royal Mail said. The target was 92.5 percent. In May, the rate fell to 87.2 percent while in the worst-affected areas of the UK, next-day delivery slumped to just above 80 percent.
Also announced was that Royal Mail is paying a record 50 million pounds ($60.9 million U.S.) in compensation for late delivery of mail due to the disruption of service last year when deliveries were affected by strikes.
The drop in service levels was blamed on Royal Mail's modernization program. The measures, which include elimination of the second daily delivery, let Royal Mail post a profit for the fiscal year ending in March for the first time in four years.
Royal Mail said its service is improving. Preliminary figures for August reveal that First-Class, next-day delivery performance is around 92 percent.
