The U.S. Postal Service today announced its financial results for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2022 (Oct. 1, 2021 – Dec. 31, 2021), reporting an adjusted loss of approximately $1.3 billion for the quarter, compared to an adjusted loss of $288 million for the same quarter last year. Adjusted loss excludes non-cash workers’ compensation adjustments for the impacts of actuarial revaluation and discount rate changes, which are outside of management’s control. On a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles basis, the Postal Service had a net loss of approximately $1.5 billion for the quarter, compared to net income of $318 million for the same quarter last year.
The increases in both net loss and adjusted loss were partially driven by inflationary impacts to operating expenses, including rising prices associated with energy and fuel expenses.
Service performance continued to improve during the quarter and remained strong through the volume surge associated with the holiday season. Service performance improvements are largely the result of significant organizational focus on implementing core elements of the Delivering for America plan, including network infrastructure investments, the installation of new package processing equipment, increased leased space, and enhanced efforts for workforce stabilization, to better meet customers’ evolving needs during the 2021 holiday season and beyond.
The Postal Service’s operating revenue was approximately $21.3 billion for the quarter, a decrease of $202 million, or 0.9 percent, on volume decline of approximately 1.5 billion pieces, or 4.1 percent, compared to the same quarter last year. Revenue declined at a slower rate than volume due to price increases implemented during calendar year 2021. Despite these volume declines during the quarter, the Postal Service accepted for delivery more than 13.2 billion letters, cards, flats, and packages between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve, exceeding the 12.7 billion accepted for delivery during the same timeframe in 2020.
First-Class Mail revenue increased $160 million, or 2.5 percent, compared to the same quarter last year, despite a volume decline of 529 million pieces, or 3.8 percent. The revenue increase was driven by price increases, while the volume decline is reflective of the continuing migration from mail to electronic communication and transaction alternatives, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Marketing Mail revenue increased $304 million, or 7.3 percent, compared to the same quarter last year, despite a volume decline of 710 million pieces, or 3.6 percent. Marketing Mail has generally proven to be a resilient marketing channel, and as the economy has shown a recovery, its value to U.S. businesses remains strong due to healthy customer returns on investment and better data and technology integration. However, Marketing Mail volume in the same quarter last year was significantly positively impacted by political and election mail associated with the calendar year 2020 general election season. As a result, political and election mail revenue and volume declined approximately $400 million and 2.3 billion pieces, respectively, compared to the same quarter last year. Overall, Marketing Mail revenue grew due to price increases despite the volume decline.
Shipping and Packages revenue decreased $738 million, or 7.9 percent, on a volume decline of 210 million pieces, or 9.7 percent. The measured decline in Shipping and Packages volume is a result of the higher package volumes in the prior year due to the pandemic-related surge in e-commerce, which continues to abate as the economy recovers and market competition intensifies. However, Shipping and Packages volume remains higher than pre-pandemic levels.
details at: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2022/0208-usps-reports-first-quarter-fiscal-year-2022-results.htm