@crikey*mate wrote:
@freakiness wrote:
@am*3 wrote:
Why offset the cost of letters though? Reduce/cut out the letter deliveries and the parcel profit is $128.4 million up. Resulting in less often increases in parcel rates, and/or lower increase in parcel rates.
Do other businesses keep arms of their business that loose that much money every year?
It's not just a business though. It's a public service and has been for life times.
The country is not a giant business that has to make a profit off every facet of the services it provides.
I suppose it depends on just how many services we can afford to sustain that don't make any money.
Overall AusPost does make money.
http://auspost.com.au/annualreport2013/financial-report.html
This year Australia Post’s profit after tax was $311.9 million; this is 20.8 per cent higher than our 2010 underlying profit after tax (excluding restructuring costs). This is a pleasing result considering that the decline in addressed letter volumes accelerated faster than we forecast. We expect that this trend will continue as consumers, businesses and government agencies increasingly shift to digital communication channels.
Underpinning the improved result was $5.9 billion in revenue. Taking full ownership of StarTrack this year meant that, for the first time in our 204-year history, we are predominantly a parcels business. This structural adjustment is reflected in our Parcel and Express Services business contributing 45.1 per cent of our total revenue.
We delivered a strong rate of return for our shareholder, the Federal Government, paying a cash dividend of $243.7 million (up 25.7 per cent this year). Our return on equity was 18.5 per cent.
