Parcel delivery firm City Link was still searching for a return to profit yesterday, despite benefiting from the boom in online shopping.
The business, which is part of pest control and washrooms firm Rentokil Initial, recorded a loss of £2.4 million for the final quarter of the year, having told the City this summer that it would be profitable by now.
This forecast was revised in November, with Rentokil blaming weaker demand from higher margin small business customers for its failure to fully benefit from a pick-up in deliveries on behalf of major retailers.
Across 2012, City Link made a loss of £26.4m against £31.3m a year earlier but Rentokil's shares soared after a better-than-expected 10% rise in group profits to £191.1m.
After a number of false starts, Rentokil's bid to revive City Link has benefited from a new management team's push to improve driver productivity, supported by better route handling.
City Link's costs per delivery fell by 13%, while volumes were 17% higher.
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