February 6, 2015

USPS Quarter One Fiscal Year 2015 Results

• Controllable Net Income: $1.124 Billion
• Postal Cash Nearly Doubles to $7 Billion
• Revenue up 4.3%
• Standard Mail Volume up 3.5%
• Package Volume up 12.8%
• First Class Volume Down 1.1%

You probably will read that the Postal Service reported a $754 million loss for the first fiscal quarter ending December 31, 2014. Underlying that accounting result is a much better financial performance from postal operations thanks to their customers who increased spending with USPS. After deducting $453 million for workers’ compensation adjustments due to lower interest rates, and subtracting $1.425 billion for retiree health pre-funding payments not made, the real operating profit of USPS was $1.124 billion in the first quarter of FY 2015.

The liquidity story reflects the real financial results of USPS. Cash at December 31, 2014 was $7.080 billion, up $3.33 billion or 47% from $3.754 billion the prior year.