Rentokil Initial, parent company of courier City Link, has blamed the company’s worsening performance on poor operational management.

The courier made an operating loss of £9.6 million last year, £4 million worse than the loss made in 2009.

The group also blamed poor weather conditions in the run up to Christmas for lower productivity and higher costs, but said that “The principal issue was that operational management of the business was poor, evidenced by high usage of subcontractors, inadequate contingency planning to deal with extreme conditions and poor engagement of front line colleagues.”

Alan Brown, chief executive of Rentokil Initial, said: “City Link’s operational inefficiencies are expected to be addressed by October 2011 but financial delivery will be weak until then.”