AusPost announces heavy annual loss as challenges lie ahead with US tariffs and private competitors

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Australia Post hopes to resume all shipping to the US within weeks after ceasing deliveries earlier this week due to new tariffs. AusPost has today announced it's turned around last year's heavy loss into a small profit but is warning challenges lie ahead for its business model.

Transcript

00:00Australia Post is sounding the alarm about threats to its business model in the same

00:07week that it made the extraordinary decision to halt most shipping to the United States.

00:12The Australian-owned entity reported its annual profit, showing that it made what it says

00:18is a modest profit of $18 million.

00:21The figures show that Australia Post is making quite a loss on its letter-sending side of

00:26the business, around $200 million, and that while it's sending more parcels, it's warning

00:32about private operators taking up this portion of its business.

00:37The plan is to continue to invest, to make sure that we can compete, both from a cost

00:41perspective but also from a services perspective.

00:45Australian consumers are getting very demanding.

00:47They want same-day service, they want next-day service, they want the convenience of everything

00:51in the palm of their hand through their mobile.

00:53Early this week, Australia Post and many other global postal operators halted most shipping

00:59to the United States after the Trump administration brought in new taxes on low-value goods going

01:05into America.

01:06The issue here is that Australia Post doesn't have the sorts of systems that could collect

01:11and distribute these new taxes, while other private companies say they do have these systems.

01:18Now Australia Post has a mandate to help.

01:20It's been very difficult, difficult for our team members, but most importantly difficult

01:24for our customers, because there has been a degree of uncertainty around the whole tariff

01:28landscape for the US.

01:30Is it on?

01:31Is it not on?

01:32We have to deal with that.

01:33We have to roll with those punches.

01:34Our focus is on making sure our customers have the ability to serve their US customers as

01:38quickly as possible, and with the most competitive product that we can deliver, and we're working

01:44night and day to deliver that solution.

01:45Australia Post is generally cheaper to send parcels, especially for small businesses, and it has

01:52a mandate to send letters and packages in rural and regional parts of Australia.

01:57The question here is how much longer can Australia Post operate without receiving government help,

02:03and will Australia Post still be around in 10, 20 years' time?

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