The US Postal Service's net loss widened to $5.2 billion during the three months that ended in June, and the cash-strapped agency warned on Thursday that without help from the US Congress it will face low cash and be unable to borrow money this fall.
The Postal Service, which relies on the sale of stamps and other products rather than taxpayer funding, has been struggling for years as Americans increasingly communicate online and as payments to its retiree health benefits program and other obligations drain its cash.
The mail agency suffered its first-ever default last week on a legally required $5.5 billion payment for future retiree health benefits. The agency's inspector general said the Postal Service could face a $100 million cash shortfall in mid-October. The Postal Service said its net loss of $5.2 billion, compared to $3.1 billion for the same period in 2011, largely came from funds the agency must set aside for the retiree benefits payment. Even though the Postal Service defaulted and expects to skip a second payment due next month, it still must account for the payments in its financial statements.
Shipping services and package delivery were a bright spot in a bleak report, growing 9 percent in revenue compared to the same quarter a year earlier. But mail volume fell 3.6 percent to 38.5 billion pieces, the agency said. Operating revenue during the quarter was $15.6 billion, a decrease of less than 1 percent from a year earlier, USPS said.
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