The Postal Service has reported its financial results for fiscal year 2022’s third quarter (April 1-June 30). Here are some highlights:
• Revenue. Operating revenue was $18.7 billion, an increase of 1.4 percent compared with the same quarter one year earlier. First-Class Mail revenue was essentially flat, while Marketing Mail revenue increased 9.4 percent. Revenue from shipping and packages decreased 1.1 percent.
• Volume. Total volume was approximately 30.5 billion pieces, down 0.7 percent from one year earlier. First-Class Mail volume declined 5.1 percent, while Marketing Mail volume grew 3.5 percent. Shipping and packages volume declined 5 percent.
• One-time noncash benefit. The Postal Service Reform Act’s enactment on April 6 significantly affected the organization’s financial condition because it repealed the requirement that USPS annually prepay future retiree health benefits and canceled all past due prefunding obligations. These impacts are reflected as a one-time, noncash benefit of $59.6 billion to net income for the quarter.
• Adjusted loss. The Postal Service had adjusted loss of $459 million for the quarter, compared with an adjusted loss of $41 million for the same quarter last year. The adjusted loss excludes the effects of the Postal Service Reform Act, retiree health benefits expense, noncash workers’ compensation adjustments for the impacts of actuarial revaluation and discount rate changes, which are outside of management’s control, and amortization expenses for the Civil Service Retirement System and the Federal Employee Retirement System unfunded liabilities.
“Our strong on-time delivery results and revenue growth this quarter demonstrate that we are making appreciable progress in implementing our Delivering for America plan and becoming the high performing organization the public expects and deserves,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
“The one-time, noncash benefit we recorded due to the enactment of postal reform legislation was significant, but also distortive. The fact of the matter is that we have a long road and a lot of hard work ahead in our 10-year transformation to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the Postal Service, but we are confident that we will achieve what we have set out to accomplish.”
The Postal Service’s Aug. 9 news release has additional information.