WASHINGTON – The U.S. Postal Service reported total revenue of $19.4 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2020 (October 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019), a decrease of $363 million, or 1.8 percent, compared to the same quarter last year.

Due to continuing secular declines in transaction mail, First-Class Mail revenue declined by $168 million, or 2.5 percent, on a volume decline of 571 million pieces, or 3.8%, and Periodicals revenue declined by $24 million, or 7.7 percent, compared to the same quarter last year. Marketing Mail revenue declined by $254 million, or 5.4 percent, on a volume decline of 1.7 billion pieces, or 7.9 percent, compared to the same quarter last year. The majority of volume declines in Marketing Mail were due to high levels of political and election mail in October and November of 2018, that were not replicated during the same period in 2019.

Meanwhile, Shipping and Packages revenue increased by $146 million, or 2.3 percent, despite a volume decline of 84 million pieces, or 4.6 percent, compared to the same quarter last year.

“We demonstrated once again the power of our unrivaled network and our ability to provide solutions for our customers while growing package volumes during our peak period. Package revenue for the quarter grew by $146 million. However, overall volumes and mail revenues for the quarter were down, and we continue to face systemic profitability challenges due to our restrictive business model and mandated costs,” said Postmaster General and CEO Megan J. Brennan. “We will continue to aggressively pursue opportunities to generate profitable revenues and drive greater operational efficiencies under our current structure, while also seeking legislative and regulatory reforms to allow the Postal Service to better invest in our business, compete for customers, control our costs and serve the evolving needs of the public.”

For the first quarter of fiscal year 2020, total work hours declined, compensation and benefits expense declined by $190 million, and total expenses were down approximately $1.1 billion. However, excluding non-cash fair value adjustments to the workers’ compensation liability, total expenses were essentially flat compared to the first quarter of fiscal year 2019.

“While many of our network costs are fixed to meet our universal service obligations, we continue to aggressively manage operating expenditures under management’s control,” said Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Joseph Corbett. “The Postal Service reduced work hours by 6.4 million relative to the same quarter last year, helping us to reduce overall compensation expenses.”

The net loss for the quarter totaled $748 million, a decrease in net loss of $789 million, compared to a net loss of $1.5 billion for the same quarter last year. Controllable loss for the quarter was $387 million, compared to a controllable loss of $103 million for the same quarter last year.

First Quarter Fiscal 2020 Operating Revenue and Volume by Service Category Compared to Prior Year
The following table presents revenue and volume by category for the three months ended December 31, 2019, and 2018:

Selected First Quarter Fiscal 2020 Results of Operations and Controllable Loss
This news release references controllable loss, which is not calculated and presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP). Controllable loss is defined as net loss adjusted for items outside of management’s control and non-recurring items. These adjustments include workers’ compensation expenses caused by actuarial revaluation and discount rate changes, and the amortization of Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund (PSRHBF), Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and Federal Employee Retirement System (FERS) unfunded liabilities.

The following table presents selected results of operations and reconciles GAAP net loss to controllable loss and illustrates the loss from ongoing business activities without the impact of non-controllable items for the three months ended December 31, 2019, and 2018:

Financial results in the Form 10-Q are available at http://about.usps.com/what/financials/

Financial Briefing
Postmaster General and CEO Megan J. Brennan and CFO and Executive Vice President Joseph Corbett will host a telephone/Web conference call to discuss the financial results in more detail. The call will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET on February 6, 2020, and is open to news media and all other interested parties.

How to Participate:

US/Canada Attendee Dial-in: 844-340-4622 Conference ID: 3738718

Attendee Direct URL: https://usps.webex.com/usps/onstage/g.php?MTID=e784cc54f36f90b61f20f0cf0ec39f41f

Alternate URL: https://usps.webex.com
Event Number: 825 198 437

The briefing is also available on live audio webcast (listen only) at:
http://about.usps.com/what/financials/briefings/welcome.htm

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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For U.S. Postal Service media resources, including broadcast quality video and audio and photo stills, visit the USPS Newsroom. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the USPS YouTube channel, like us on Facebook and enjoy our Postal Posts blog. For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and facts.usps.com.

USPS NEWS

Media contacts

• David Partenheimer
  david.a.partenheimer@usps.gov
  202.268.2599

CORAL GABLES, FL — The U.S. Postal Service celebrates the striking beauty of wild orchids with the release of the Wild Orchids Forever stamps. Part of the largest family of plants on Earth, orchids grow in many climates and thrive under a variety of conditions.

The stamps were dedicated at the American Orchid Society Library at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Coral Gables, FL. News about the stamps is being shared on social media using the hashtags #OrchidStamps and #FlowerStamps. Followers of the Postal Service’s Facebook page can view video of the ceremony at facebook.com/usps.

Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamps with photographs taken by James A. Fowler.

“Orchids can be hard to find in a natural setting and today there is a conservation effort to preserve these beautiful flowers,” said Jakki Krage Strako, chief customer and marketing officer and executive vice president, U.S. Postal Service, who served as the event’s dedicating official. “Each of these stamps represent a masterpiece of nature that blossoms with color. They also continue the Postal Service tradition of showcasing the natural beauty of flowers on stamps.”

Joining Strako to dedicate the stamps were Georgia Tasker, author, horticulture writer and Pulitzer Prize finalist; Susan Wedegaertner, president, American Orchid Society; photographer James A. Fowler; and Lawrence Zettler, director of the orchid recovery program, Illinois College.

“Orchids are the world’s most familiar group of flowers and these charming stamps showcase nine of the over 200 orchid species native to the United States,” said Zettler. “These stamps also serve as a reminder of their beauty and their vulnerability.”

Each stamp features a photograph of one of these nine species: Cypripedium californicum, Hexalectris spicata, Cypripedium reginae, Spiranthes odorata, Triphora trianthophoros, Platanthera grandiflora, Cyrtopodium polyphyllum, Calopogon tuberosus and Platanthera leucophaea. The booklet contains 10 stamp designs and each design is featured twice for a total of 20 stamps. Triphora tranthophoros is featured on two stamps designs, to include the booklet cover.

The Wild Orchids stamps will also be issued in coils of 3,000 and 10,000.

There are more than 30,000 species of wild orchids in the world. Many that are native to North America are endangered or threatened, making sightings in their natural environment increasingly rare.

These striking flowers are native to damp woodlands, and numerous organizations across the country are working to preserve orchid habitats. Orchids also thrive in cultivated gardens or as houseplants.

“It’s amazing that my passions of photographing wild orchids and stamp collecting have converged today with the release of these stamps,” said Fowler. “My childhood interest in photography began on the knee of my mother, who was an accomplished photographer; my passion for the beauty of plants, I learned from my great-grandmother, who was a botanist at the Department of Agriculture; and the hobby of stamp collecting, I picked up from my older brother.”

The Wild Orchids stamps are being issued as Forever stamps, which will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.

Postal Products

Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by calling 800-STAMP24 (800-782-6724), by mail through USA Philatelic, or at Post Office locations nationwide. Videos of most stamp ceremonies will be available on facebook.com/usps.

Information on ordering first-day-of-issue postmarks and covers is at usps.com/shopstamps under “Collectors.”

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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For U.S. Postal Service media resources, including broadcast quality video and audio and photo stills, visit the USPS Newsroom. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the USPS YouTube channel, like us on Facebook and enjoy our Postal Posts blog. For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and facts.usps.com.

What:

The U.S. Postal Service celebrates the 200th anniversary of Maine statehood with a new Forever stamp. Maine became the 23rd state on March 15, 1820.

The picturesque rocky coastline of Maine has long inspired the imagination of writers and artists. American painter Edward Hopper (1882-1967) was among the many prominent artists who sought the tranquility of the state’s coastal towns during the summer. His painting “Sea at Ogunquit” (1914) captures the rugged beauty so characteristic of Maine and is being represented on the stamp, which art director Derry Noyes designed.

The stamp dedication event will be part of the Maine Statehood Day Ceremony activities. 

Who:

Michael J. Elston, Secretary of the Board of Governors, U.S. Postal Service
Janet Mills, Governor, State of Maine
Matthew Dunlap, Secretary of State, Maine

When:

Sunday, March 15, 2020, 1 p.m. EDT

Where:

Augusta Armory
179 Western Ave.
Augusta, ME 04330

RSVP:

Dedication ceremony attendees are encouraged to RSVP at usps.com/mainestatehood.

Background:

Maine celebrates its bicentennial in 2020, but its history of human habitation dates back some 12,000 years to the earliest Native Americans, who are now part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. During the Colonial period, Maine territory was disputed between Massachusetts Bay Colony and French Acadia, who sought allies among and warred against Native Americans. Following the Revolutionary War and ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the District of Maine remained part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Maine became an independent state on March 15, 1820. Portland, the state’s largest city then and now, served as the capital until 1827 when the seat of government moved to Augusta, a more geographically central location.

Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through The Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by calling 800-STAMP24 (800-782-6724), by mail through USA Philatelic or at Post Office locations nationwide.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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For U.S. Postal Service media resources, including broadcast quality video and audio and photo stills, visit the USPS Newsroom. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the USPS YouTube channel, like us on Facebook and enjoy our Postal Posts blog. For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and facts.usps.com.

MESA, AZ — The U.S. Postal Service today issued the Let’s Celebrate! Forever stamp, giving customers a way to add extra fun and happiness to celebratory greeting cards, invitations, and gift-bearing envelopes and packages. News of the stamp is being shared using the hashtag #CelebrationStamp.

“The bright and cheery stamp is filled with vibrant, exciting circles like a burst of confetti,” said Janice Walker, vice president, Corporate Communications, U.S. Postal Service, who was the dedicating official. “The Let’s Celebrate! stamp will help send cheer and a dash of fun through the mail.”

Joining Walker to dedicate the stamp were Chris Lazaroff, executive committee board member, American First Day Cover Society; Elizabeth Hisey, Co-Founder, Women Exhibitors; and Tina M. Sweeney, manager, Post Office operations, Arizona/New Mexico District, U.S. Postal Service.

The first-day-of-issue event took place during the Aripex 2020 Stamp Show in Mesa, AZ. Let’s Celebrate! features an array of colorful circles in varying sizes arranged in a random pattern. The letters in the word “celebrate,” cast in a dark green hue, appear inside several brightly colored circles on a white background. Antonio Alcalá, a USPS art director, designed the stamp.

Customers may purchase the Let’s Celebrate! stamps at the Postal Store at usps.com/shop, by calling 800-STAMP24 (800-782-6724), by mail through USA Philatelic or at Post Office locations nationwide. Forever stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price. Information on ordering first-day-of-issue postmarks and covers is at usps.com/shop under “Collectors.” A video of the ceremony will be available on Facebook.com/usps.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

For U.S. Postal Service media resources, including broadcast quality video and audio and photo stills, visit the USPS Newsroom. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the USPS YouTube channel, like us on Facebook and enjoy our Postal Posts blog. For more information about the Postal Service, visit usps.com and facts.usps.com.