Australia Post announces reduced profit as letters fall

Australia Post has announced a profit before tax of $41 million for 2018/19, down 67 per cent year-on-year. As flagged when Australia Post released its HY19 results, falling letter volumes dragged the profit down.Domestic parcels grew 9.2 per cent to $3,181 million, while letter revenues declined almost 9 per cent to $2,216 million. The letters business returned a loss of $192 million.The growth in delivery points and continuing fall in letter volumes present a challenge to Australia Post.The proposed price increase for the basic domestic rate postage stamp, if approved, will help Australia Post recover some of its costs for the letters service. The letters service should be self-funding, and not dependent on funding from other parts of the business that are subject to competition.Now is the time for all levels of government to offer more services via post offices. The reach of the post office network is unmatched. Licensed Post Offices are at the centre of their communities, and have earned a high degree of trust. It makes sense for the post office to be the local hub for government services in communities around Australia.POAAL calls on federal, state and local governments to look at how they can offer their services through post offices.