The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on Friday reported $9B in net losses for the fiscal year 2025, with new Postmaster General David Steiner noting that the agency needed administrative and legislative reforms.
The USPS logged a 1.2% increase in fiscal year operating revenue to $80.5B, primarily due to continued growth in its USPS Ground Advantage shipping service and price increases. However, the revenue gain was offset by increased compensation and benefits expenses of $1.7B.
“To correct our financial imbalances, we must explore new revenue opportunities and public policy changes to improve our business model,” Steiner said in a statement.
The USPS last saw an annual profit in 2006, before the mandate to prefund retiree health benefits. It has lost more than $100B since, despite several efforts by the government to provide relief.
“The financial results reflect the difficulties of our mandated cost structure and the continued decline in volume, offset to some degree by the Postal Service’s efforts to push back against those trends by aggressively managing the costs we can control and by the judicious use of our pricing authority,” USPS CFO Luke Grossmann said.
In prepared remarks delivered during the USPS Board of Governors open session on Friday, Steiner noted that financial performance remained the agency’s “most pressing challenge.”
“We must and can do better. Despite gains in certain areas, we continue to face pressure from a variety of sources like inflation, balance sheet obligations unique to the Postal Service, and pricing limitations,” the Postmaster General said.
“We will certainly be asking Congress and the Postal Regulatory Commission for more flexibility and common sense modifications in how we are regulated. I hope they will engage with us on these reforms that are necessary for our long-term financial viability,” he added.
Steiner also emphasized the USPS’s commitment to operational efficiency and competition, stating, “We cannot cost cut our way to prosperity — we have to grow.” This call to action includes leveraging assets better and exploring expanded partnerships, such as last-mile delivery services with companies like UPS (UPS), to boost revenue and market presence.
Apart from UPS (UPS), the U.S. Postal Service also competes with other publicly listed companies such as FedEx (FDX), Amazon (AMZN), and Germany’s DHL (OTCPK:DHLGY).