Royal Mail was yesterday accused of fleecing taxpayers as it announced multimillion-pound profits.

In the service’s first set of results since its controversial £3.3 billion stock market flotation in October 2013, the company said that operating profits after transformation costs were £430 million in the year to March 30, against £403m a year earlier.

The figures sparked a fresh row over whether Business Secretary Vince Cable sold the shares too cheaply last year, with unions saying it was now clear that taxpayers had been “fleeced.”