Yodel: Losses double at UK’s second-worst parcel delivery firm
Losses at Yodel, which was named as the second-worst parcel delivery firm in the UK in 2024, have more than doubled as its revenue was slashed.
The Liverpool-headquartered business has reported a pre-tax loss of £105.2m for its latest financial year.
The total comes after Yodel also lost £48.2m in 2023.
New accounts filed with Companies House also show that its revenue was cut from £555.7m to £487.6m in the year.
During the year the average number of people employed by Yodel fell from 3,469 to 3,123.
Yodel was named as the second-worst parcel delivery firm in the UK in October 2024 in an Ofcom report, with Evri taking the unwanted top spot.
Ofcom said that Yodel performed “below average” on some aspects of its customer contact processes, contributing to a satisfaction score of 38 per cent.
Yodel passing on cost increases
A statement signed off by the board said: “The UK economy has experienced significant inflationary pressure throughout the period, particularly in relation to wages, fuel and utilities.
“Whilst some of these cost increases are passed on to customers through surcharges, there has been a clear dampening effect on consumer spending power, resulting from the current cost-of-living crisis, which has contributed to a lower like-for-like adjusted EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation) performance.
“Yodel continues to offer an industry-leading customer service to its portfolio of clients and the directors are highly appreciative of the support and dedication of all colleagues, suppliers and clients.
“Yodel remains committed to achieving customer excellence and continues to deliver significant improvements in service performance.”
Ownership battle
In May, CityAM reported that the £106m acquisition of Yodel by InPost has been put on ice after an injunction was filed with the High Court in the latest twist in a long-running legal spat.
In the prior month, Poland’s InPost had agreed to buy Liverpool-headquartered Yodel in what was described as a “pivotal milestone” at the time.
InPost said that it expected the deal to increase its market share to eight per cent as well as rapidly increasing its capacity to more than 300 million parcels a year.
However the deal has been paused after Shift and Corja Holdings, which is owned by Shift’s chief executive Jacob Corlett filed an injunction application with the High Court.
A High Court judge subsequently restricted InPost’s ability to integrate Yodel, or from making any material changes spanning investment, leadership, restructuring and changes to the workforce.
Recently, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s decision to refuse the interim injunction which was an attempt to halt Yodel’s restructuring.
The court ruled that a restructuring plan should proceed. The High Court is preparing to determine ownership claims this month.
At the start of 2025, CityAM reported that an increasingly bitter legal battle had broken out between Yodel and Corlett – the entrepreneur who attempted to rescue the delivery giant last year.
Detailed legal documents were filed with the High Court and entered the public domain where a raft of claims and counterclaims were thrown by each side over who is ultimately to blame for the deal going south.
Those legal documents, seen by CityAM, outline a highly contested set of events with both parties insisting that their version constitutes the facts and can be evidenced if needed.
Corlett’s team has said that prior to the announcement of the deal to acquire Yodel, the CEO and Shift had formally put InPost on notice of their possession of warrants.
These warrants, his team has said, collectively assert rights to over 66 per cent of Yodel’s share capital.