The US Postal Service ended its first quarter, which runs from October 1 to December 31, with a net loss of $384 million.
The USPS said today the economic recession contributed to a 5.2 billion piece mail volume decline compared to the same period last year. The 9.3% volume drop marked the eighth consecutive quarter of accelerating volume declines. It projects that volume for the year will be down by 12 billion to 15 billion pieces.
The final first quarter results will be published later this month. The preliminary results, released during this week’s Board of Governors meeting, include operating revenue of $19.1 billion — a decrease of $1.3 billion, or 6.3%, compared to the same period last year; and operating expenses of $19.5 billion — a reduction of approximately $200 million, or 1.1%, from the first quarter of last year.
First-class mail volume decreased by 1.8 billion pieces, and standard mail volume was down 3 billion pieces in the first quarter.
If current revenue and volume trends continue, the USPS said it could see a year-end net loss significantly higher than last year’s $2.8 billion loss.
