Royal Mail (LON:RMG) have reported a 30 percent drop in half-year profits, after extensive cost-saving programmes hit the company in the short term.

Adjusted pretax profit fell 16 percent to £240 million, but shares rose over 5 percent on the news that the company expects operating costs to fall 1 percent this year overall.

The recently privatised company’s profits depends strongly on the christmas season, for which chief executive Moya Greene said the group had put in “extensive preparations”.

“Everything that can be operationally, we have done … At Christmas, we know it’s our time to shine,” she said.

Royal Mail has recently cut 3000 jobs, around 2 percent of the workforce, which now stands at 140,000. Transformation costs doubled in the lat six months to £94 million, and pushed pretax profits down to £116 million from £167 million.

Royal Mail are currently trading up 5.81 percent at 480.80 pence per share. (1004GMT)