Shipping and Package Services Revenue Up 6.6 Percent
· January Price Increase Offsets Continued Volume Loss in First-Class Mail, Driving All Mail Revenue Up $424 Million
· Need for Comprehensive Legislation Remains Urgent
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service ended the June 30, 2014, quarter with a net loss of $2.0 billion, compared to a net loss of $740 million for the same period last year. The Postal Service has recorded a loss in 21 of the last 23 quarters, the excepted quarters being the two in which Congress rescheduled the Retiree Health Benefits prefunding payments.
Revenue continues to improve as a result of the Postal Service’s January mail price increase, successful sales and marketing initiatives, and continued success in growing the package business. Total operating revenue of $16.5 billion increased by $327 million, or 2.0 percent, compared to the same period last year.
Shipping and Package revenue was up 6.6 percent. Standard Mail revenue was up 5.1 percent, driven by a 0.9 percent increase in volume and the January 2014 price increase. First-Class Mail volume was down 1.4 percent, but the January price increase offset this decline, resulting in a 3.2 percent revenue increase.
“We’re seeing momentum in our package business and continued use of direct mail as an advertising medium,” said Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer Patrick Donahoe. “We’ve been effective in developing and marketing our products, and we’re improving how we leverage data and technology—all providing a higher return on mail for many customers and causing them to take a fresh look at the Postal Service.”
Total operating expenses for the third quarter of 2014 were $18.4 billion, an increase of $1.5 billion from the same period last year, driven mainly by the Workers’ Compensation fair value adjustment. Compensation and benefits expenses increased by $15 million, or 0.1 percent, compared to the third quarter of 2013, as contractual pay increases were offset by work-hour reductions and more efficient use of available labor flexibility.
“Due to continued losses and low levels of liquidity, we’ve been extremely conservative with our capital, spending only what is deemed essential to maintain existing infrastructure,” said Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Joseph Corbett. “To continue to provide world-class service and remain competitive, we must invest up to $10 billion to replace our aging vehicle fleet, purchase additional package sorting equipment, and make necessary upgrades to our infrastructure.”
Corbett also said that the organization will be unable to make the required $5.7 billion retiree health benefit prefunding payment to the U.S. Treasury, due by Sept. 30, 2014. Comprehensive postal legislation is necessary to eliminate this liability and provide a basis for the Postal Service to return to long-term financial health.
This quarter’s results were improved as a result of implementing the exigent price increase, which the Postal Regulatory Commission has ruled as a surcharge to be collected only until the Postal Service recovers a total amount of $3.2 billion of incremental revenue, estimated to occur in the second half of 2015. The Postal Service has petitioned the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the PRC’s order on the exigent price increase. Among other things, the Postal Service’s position is that the PRC improperly and artificially limited the amount of relief to which the Postal Service was entitled as a result of the Great Recession.
Following is a summary of third quarter results of Operations compared to same period last year.
· Total mail volume of 37.7 billion pieces compared to 37.8 billion pieces
o Shipping and Package volume increased 7.7 percent.
o Standard Mail volume increased 0.9 percent.
o First-Class Mail volume declined 1.4 percent. This was the 32nd consecutive quarterly decline for First-Class Mail volume.
· Operating revenue of $16.5 billion increased $327 million or 2.0 percent.
Operating expenses before non-cash workers’ compensation and Postal Service Retiree Health Benefit Fund expenses of $16.5 billion increased from $16.3 billion, a 1 percent change.
Complete financial results are available in the Form 10-Q, available at http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/financials/welcome.htm
Financial Briefing Mon., Aug. 11, 2014
Postmaster General & CEO Patrick R. Donahoe and Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Joseph Corbett will host a telephone/web conference call at 10:00 a.m. ET Monday (Aug.11) to discuss the financial results. The call is open to the news media and all other interested parties.
How to Participate:
Important Notice: To ensure your computer is set up to join the event, click on the link www.webex.com/lp/jointest/
Attendee Direct URL: https://usps.webex.com/usps/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=992426142
If you cannot join using the direct link above, please use the alternate login below:
Alternate URL: https://usps.webex.com
Event Number: 992 426 142
To join by phone only, dial (855) 293-5496 and enter conference passcode: 78020345
The briefing will also be available on live audio webcast (listen only) at:
http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/cfo/welcome.htm.
i dont when it all changed but like a great president said dont ask waht your country can do for you….ask what you can do for your country…. the new political saying is…. dont ask what you can do for your country…. ask what you can get away with and how much you can steal. boy has it changed…
issa say hi to my little friend….. mr drone
politicians are saying we wont be around much longer so why are they forcing the po to pay future retires that are not born yet. do they need a accountant to help them with the math. stop playing the public like they have no clue on what your up to. its like the nazi machi9ne keep lying eventually the public will believe.
we must take back our country…how is the only question that needs to be found…electing new corrupt politicians is not the answer…
cynical is calling it right. mangement is a complete set of jack asses related to each other. we should be suing them for destroying a great intitution. the postal system recieves great marks for being the most dependable goverment agency and trusted. that doesnt fit the government model of correctness they want the po to fail like everything else they are envolved in.
Trans World Airlines, Eastern, and Pan Am went out of business for losing a million a month for a year or two…..the US Postal Circus has lost almost 60 billion since 2009……how does it stay in business? how does it keep all its bloated mismanagement? the aforementioned airlines cut their mismanagement over 50% before they failed. how does Doneho keep his job? buy stock in FDX and UPS?
our paychecks are still getting cashed and lights are still on at the office….. been hearing this same song and dance for the last how many years now?? will still be hearing the same thing in the future too
Drum roll please.
I don’t believe any of these figures. The system is too corrupted and incompetent to expect it to be even remotely accurate in its reports on finances. The USPS remains understaffed, meaning with a clerk shortage that will only get worse if some of these sectional centers close, mail will arrive even later in the surrounding offices. In typical response, instead of hiring the clerks they need, management will once again push back starting times for carriers, making them late on the street, unable to get to businesses before they close, and come winter, out after dark in dangerous neighborhoods and snow and ice. The solution is not fucking around with carrier start times. If anything, service should be predictable and dependable.
I have told non postal friends and family about the ridiculous way we can’t maintain a regular start time, and to a person all of them opined that it was a sign of very poor management that couldn’t even keep a fixed schedule straight and punish customers for its short sightedness and arrogance that prevents them from listening to customers or craft. They simply believe they are intellectually superior and cannot be told that anything they do is wrong. It’s all because in supervisor/management world, to admit failure is to invite discipline and end up a patsy for someone higher up the ladder looking for a scapegoat. I’ve seen it happen too many times.
Donahoe will not be PMG forever, but the damage he’s doing will take forever to correct itself while he sits around and collects a huge golden parachute retirement and convince himself of his own brilliance and greatness. That would only be a crowd of one who shares that viewpoint, though.
And are we getting these numbers from manglement??? As far as I remember manglement twist the numbers to say whatever they want it to say…
What I would like to see is how much they paid out in grievance’s/OT/arbitration that managlement could have saved by following the rules/regs or just by talking to a steward and corrected the situation…
Does it include the mgmt. BONUS ?
Revenue increase ?
Ignore the loss report !
Mgmt/eas bonuses all around !