LONDON: British postal operator Royal Mail on Thursday said revenue from parcel deliveries has for the first time overtaken that from letters in the wake of the pandemic.

Reporting results for its first half, or six months to the end of September, the former state-run company said growth in online shopping during the coronavirus outbreak led to total group revenue growth of almost 10 percent to £5.67 billion ($7.39 billion, 6.23 billion euros) year-on-year.

"For the first time, parcels revenue at Royal Mail is now larger than letters revenue, representing 60 percent of total revenue, compared with 47 percent in the prior period," Royal Mail's interim executive chair Keith Williams said in an earnings statement.

"Whilst we have done exceptionally well in terms of revenue and have seen real growth for the first time since privatisation (in 2013), we have recorded a first half... operating loss of £176 million" -- largely owing to restructuring charges.

Royal Mail said it was recruiting about 33,000 temporary staff to meet customer demand around the peak Christmas period.

Royal Mail added: "We have also incurred significant costs due to increased parcel volumes and manual sortation of much of this additional volume through our network, costs related to Covid-19 such as protective equipment, overtime and agency staff, as well as social distancing measures."

It said it would invest £100 million "to ensure... we deliver Christmas for our customers and continue to support the government's Covid-19 testing programme".

Amid the pandemic, Royal Mail last month announced plans to begin collecting parcels from UK homes for a fee - avoiding the need for customers to visit a postbox or postal office.

Royal Mail employees have enjoyed elevated status during the coronavirus pandemic thanks to their key role in delivering virus test kits and helping businesses survive the economic fallout.