The US Postal Service (USPS) has reported operating revenue of US$19.3bn for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2016, an increase of US$613m or 3.3% over the same period last year.
USPS has attributed the increase to the record volume of packages delivered during the 2015 holiday season. The first quarter is typically the strongest quarter of the fiscal year for the post.
Megan J Brennan, postmaster general and CEO, USPS, said, “Shipping and package revenue grew 13.5% over the same period last year, and was particularly strong during the holiday shipping season. We projected and delivered more than a 16% increase in package volume. We continue to grow our e-commerce business and remain focused on delivering the best value for our customers.
“Despite these achievements and the best efforts of our employees, our financial condition will worsen without legislative reform; our financial situation is serious but solvable through the enactment of prudent legislative reform.”
The post’s net income for the quarter was US$307m, a change of US$1.1bn from the net loss of US$754m for the same period last year. The change in net income was most significantly impacted by a US$1.2bn favorable change in the workers’ compensation expense as a result of interest rate changes.
Joseph Corbett, chief financial officer and executive vice president, said, “While net income is favorable compared to a net loss, it unfortunately does not reflect the end of our losses. Excluding the favorable impact of interest rate changes and the exigent surcharge, the organization would have actually reported a net loss of approximately US$700m in the first quarter.”
February 10, 2016