Profits drop at parcel group

DX Services, the 'early morning, next day' mail services company which includes opticians as some of its key clients, expects to see operating profits fall by 12 per cent.

In a trading update ahead of its six-month interim results to December 31, revenues from its parcel arm, which delivers spectacles and contact lenses among other items, is expected to be £21m for 2005 (2004: £21.3m) due to an overall reduction in volumes.

The company counts among its clients the Wholesale Lens Company and Vision Express, and it is estimated that DX delivers over a quarter of a million items a year for the Nottingham-based multiple.

DX chief executive Paul Kehoe said he was disappointed to report profits would be worse than had previously been anticipated.

DX expects to announce its latest set of financial figures on March 7.