Major employer Australia Post has posted another loss as fewer customers send letters and visits to post offices continue to decline.
The group on Friday reported a loss of $88.5 million for the 12 months to June 30, after a $200.3 million deficit in the previous year.
AusPost said this was a “solid result” in a highly competitive market with posties competing against large, well-funded foreign multi-nationals and other private operators.
The average household now receives fewer than two addressed letters a week, which is expected to halve in the next five years.
Over-the-counter transactions have fallen by 4.9 per cent and by more than a quarter (28.7 per cent) since 2019 as more customers go online.
Chief executive Paul Graham said Australia Post was “still staring into structural challenges that are not going away”.
“There are irreversible challenges confronting us, including the decline of letters and the shift from over-the-counter transactions to digital services,” he said.
“The changes we’ve made to the business are a significant step in the right direction for our customers, our (more than 64,000) team members, and the broader community,” Mr Graham said.
“However, there is more work to do and further reform is required to ensure Australia Post is sustainable and delivers for communities for another 200 years.”
But the shifting banking landscape, along with the increased cost of doing business, meant BankPost was heading towards losses over the medium term unless partners provide additional funding, he warned.
AusPost said the “two-speed” nature of the business was becoming even more pronounced with revenue from parcels continuing to grow.
Parcels and services revenue rose to $7.42 billion, while losses in the letters business were $361.8 million as letter volumes fell 12.9 per cent to 1.76 billion.
Domestic parcel volumes increased by 1.8 per cent, contributing to parcels revenue of $6.46 billion, an increase of 3.3 per cent.
Parcel lockers continue to grow in popularity, with more than 1.4 million customers now registered for the 24-hour service.
Last financial year almost eight million parcels were delivered to the network of more than 59,000 lockers across almost 700 locations.
Group revenue rose 1.8 per cent to $9.13 billion and the cost of community service obligations, which require taxpayer-owned AusPost to meet social as well as commercial objectives, was $447.0 million.
