(Reuters) – Royal Mail (RMG.L) reported a fall in first-quarter volumes and revenue at its UK letter business, but said the division’s performance was better than it had expected due to political mail related to Britain’s June 8 general election.

The postal and parcel delivery company reported a 4 percent decline in UK letters revenue for the first quarter to June 25, but this marked an improvement over the 5 percent decline seen in the previous full year.

Overall, first-quarter group revenue rose 1 percent helped by strong performance in its domestic parcels business as well as its European delivery business.

“We have had a good start to our financial year… We remain on track to deliver our cost avoidance and net cash investment targets for the full year,” CEO Moya Greene said in a statement.

Royal Mail’s shares were 3 percent at 410.9 pence at 0717 GMT, making it the top percentage gainer on London’s blue chip FTSE 100 Index .FTSE.