Postal Service Reports Sustained Service Performance

Amazon announced its Best of Prime 2017 – revealing some of the Prime member favorites of the year. Built on a foundation of fast, free delivery, more than five billion items worldwide shipped with Prime in 2017, including free same-day, one-day, and two-day shipping. Prime is designed to make members’ lives easier and more fun with a unique combination of shipping, shopping and entertainment. Prime members used their digital benefits in 2017 more than in any previous year - putting The Grand Tour on Prime Video, “Believer” by Imagine Dragons on Prime Music and The Handmaid’s Tale on Prime Reading on the U.S. ‘best of’ list for 2017. Find Amazon’s Best of Prime 2017 on Prime Insider. Click Read More below for additional information.

The U.S. Postal Service announced its financial results for the 2024 fiscal year ended September 30. Controllable loss, which excludes certain expenses that are not controllable by management, was $1.8 billion for the year, compared to over $2.2 billion for the prior year. The net loss for the year under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) totaled $9.5 billion, compared to a net loss of $6.5 billion for the prior year, an increase of $3.0 billion primarily attributed to the year-over-year increase in non-cash workers’ compensation expense. Over 80% of our current year net loss is attributed to factors that are outside of management's control, specifically, the amortization of unfunded retiree pension liabilities and non-cash workers' compensation adjustments. “Our pricing and product strategies are continuing to improve our revenue picture and fuel market share gains in our package business, demonstrating the increasing competitiveness of the Postal Service,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. “While we continue to reduce our costs, there remain many economic, legislative and regulatory obstacles for us to overcome. We look forward to continuing our focus on transforming and modernizing the Postal Service, driving revenue, reducing the cost to deliver, improving operational performance, and positioning the organization for long-term financial sustainability.”

Highlights for the first quarter: • As part of our transformation plan, on April 10, 2018, we launched a major national expansion with a reinvention of our Metro urban commuter newspapers and more robust digital offerings on thestar.com in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Halifax and nationally. This expansion leverages the Star brand and its history and unique position of local and investigative reporting. • Ended the first quarter of 2018 with $51.5 million of cash and cash equivalents and $7.7 million of restricted cash; Torstar has no bank indebtedness. • Our net loss from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2018 was $20.9 million ($0.26 per share) compared to a net loss of $24.4 million ($0.30 per share) in the first quarter of 2017. Click Read More below for additional information.