Australia Post reports $200m loss

Australia Post has today revealed its FY23 results. Group revenue remained steady at $ 8.97 billion, largely flat from FY22. The company has reported a before tax loss of $ 200.3 million, down from $ 55.3 million profit in FY22. This is the company’s second reported loss since it became a GBE in 1989, the other being in 2015.

“The headwinds Australia Post is facing into aren’t new and it’s my job along with the leadership team to transform and modernise Australia Post, so it can once again be a financially sustainable business,” said Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Paul Graham of the concerning results.

“If we do everything in our power to run this business well and we get a favourable regulatory response towards modernisation, I’m confident that Australia Post will return to profit. Without this support, the FY23 loss will be followed by many more. Inaction could result in a greatly devalued Australian asset.”

Australia Post’s $343 million investment in FY23 supported growth in its network to boost parcel volumes and make Australia Post more sustainable. The investments included new facilities and a fleet of 500 electronic delivery vehicles. This move has so far proven to have paid off with Parcels and Services revenue totalling $7.3 billion, up 0.9 percent on last year.

The company has been flagging its Letters business as being problematic for a few years and demand for it is steadily declining. Letters volumes were 2 billion, down 7.8 percent on last year. There was a loss in the Letters business of $384.1 million, up 50.2 percent from FY22.

The company has continued implementing its Post26 Strategy, with Australia Post simplifying its business in FY23, announcing its intention to close third-party logistics provider Fulfilio, document scanning service Decipha and alternative payments platform POLi, which resulted in large one-off costs. Also looking to restructure its Post Office network, Australia Post has revealed that In FY23, over-the-counter transactions continued the downward trend and have declined 20.9 percent since FY19. The Post26 Strategy will see Australia Post continue to invest in digitisation and ecommerce support among other customer focused priorities in coming years.

“We’re 12 months into delivering on our Post 26 Strategy, and already we’re seeing the benefits of this. Every day, our team of almost 65,000 people are focused on the task at hand, and I would like to thank them for their efforts,” said Graham.

“Given our trajectory, we are responsibly addressing the financial challenges of the business. This includes putting in place the right organisational structure to support our frontline, simplifying our operations, ensuring we have an effective retail footprint and reviewing our pricing to address increasing losses across our Letters business.”

“Australia Post plays a critical role in the lives of all Australians. A stronger, more viable Australia Post will be able to continue to meet the evolving needs of Australian communities,” concluded Graham.