THE “gross mismanagement” of Royal Mail is to blame for the privatised firm slumping to losses of more than £1 billion, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) warned today.

The owner of the 500-year-old company, International Distributions Services (IDS), revealed it suffered an operating loss of £1.04bn for the year to late March, against earnings of £250 million the previous year.  

The British multinational claimed the financial hit at Royal Mail, whose under-pressure boss Simon Thompson announced last week that he will soon step down, was largely down to 18 days of crippling industrial action which it said resulted in £200m losses.