THE numbers tell an impressive story. Today Royal Mail posted a profit of £537 million, up nearly 150 per cent on the year before.

A service losing £1.5 million a day three years ago now makes £2 million a day profit. No wonder Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton hailed it as a "fantastic turnaround".

Postal workers will be toasting the success too, as they enjoy more than £1,000 each in bonus payments.

The 33,000 former staff whose jobs were axed as part of the recovery programme are unlikely to join the celebrations, however.

Royal Mail also hailed today's announcement as good news for customers.

First class deliveries were the best in a decade, although more than seven per cent of letters still fail to arrive the day after posting.

Here, though, the figures hide the full truth. To get back into the black, the Royal Mail scrapped second deliveries, instantly downgrading its service.

Then the remaining delivery became ever later, with some customers' post not arriving until the afternoon. That is a costly delay for businesses.

Meanwhile, sub-postmasters meeting in North Yorkshire have called on the Government to produce plans to protect rural and urban post offices.

Thousands of branches have been lost in the last few years, causing real difficulties for customers. So the message we post to Royal Mail bosses is twofold: congratulations on turning the business around, now invest these vast profits in improving your service to customers.

Updated: 10:48 Tuesday, May 17, 2005