PRC Issues Financial Analysis Report on Postal Service Financial Position
In FY 2021, the Postal Service had a net loss from operations of $2.7 billion, a $0.9 billion improvement from FY 2020. The decrease in net operating losses for FY 2021 was primarily due to $4.0 billion more revenue than in FY 2020. When non-operating expenses are included, the Postal Service had a total net loss of $4.9 billion in FY 2021—an improvement of $4.2 billion compared to FY 2020. While the Postal Service realized an overall improvement in total net losses in FY 2021, continued losses have expanded the gap between the Postal Service’s assets and liabilities. Total assets at the end of FY 2021 were $46.4 billion versus total liabilities of $122.1 billion. A significant portion of the Postal Service’s liabilities was driven by unpaid retiree health benefit (RHB) liabilities totaling $57.0 billion at the end of FY 2021. The recent enactment of the Postal Service Reform Act removes this $57.0 billion liability of past due RHB obligations and eliminates annual payments for the RHB normal costs and the Retiree Health Benefits Fund amortization. Market Dominant revenue decreased in FY 2021 by $97 million or 0.2 percent from FY 2020. Increases in revenue per piece for overall Market Dominant products were not enough to offset declines in volume and fluctuation in mail mix and signal the severity of the effects of the pandemic during that time. In FY 2021, Market Dominant volume declined while package volumes rose as a result of continued growth in e-commerce that included record holiday volume. These changes in volume affected overall revenues and cost in addition to workforce and workhour changes in response to pandemic-related labor costs.