The Postal Service posted a record net loss of $15.9 billion in fiscal 2012, much of it due to massive payments the mail agency could not make but still must account for in financial statements.
That is more than triple its $5.1 billion loss last year.
The USPS, which relies on the sale of stamps and other products rather than taxpayer dollars, has been grappling for years with high costs and tumbling mail volumes as consumers communicate more online.
Postal officials have been scrambling to cut costs and boost other parts of the business, such as package delivery, but it has not been enough to staunch the losses. The USPS on Thursday repeated its call for lawmakers to quickly pass legislation overhauling the agency's business model.
"We are still walking the financial tight rope," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe told the agency's board of governors.
"Our business model is such that we cannot return to profitability without a legislative solution. We simply cannot sustain large financial losses indefinitely," he said.
Earlier this year, the Postal Service defaulted on more than $11 billion in payments that Congress had directed it to pay into a fund for future retiree health benefits. The agency also hit its $15 billion borrowing limit for the first time in 2012.
Excluding those two payments, and another for workers' compensation that the agency did make, the Postal Service would have lost $2.5 billion during the fiscal year, which ended September 30, the USPS said.
Total mail volume tumbled to 159.9 billion pieces in 2012, a 5 percent dip from 168.3 billion pieces a year ago.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/15/us-usa-postal-loss-idUSBRE8AE18Q20121115
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