This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 21, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Pos Malaysia Bhd posted a net loss of RM15.1 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, compared to a net profit of RM4.98 million in the corresponding quarter a year ago. This marks its fourth consecutive quarterly loss.

The postal group had recently changed its financial year-end from March 31 to Dec 31.

Quarterly revenue fell 3% to RM572.95 million, from RM590.46 million a year ago, the group’s stock exchange filing showed.

Pos Malaysia continued to be hit by the decline in traditional mail volume due to electronic substitution.

“The loss was a result of the continuing decline in our mail volume [18% year-on-year], coupled with our high costs to serve the Universal Service Obligation,” said its chief executive officer Syed Najib Syed Md Noor in a separate statement.

“We are working closely with our regulator since 2018 and continue to seek a quick resolution on the tariff balancing. We expect a positive outcome from the regulator on the tariff rebalancing,” he said.

Still, Pos Malaysia sees a challenging outlook as contraction in mail volume continues as forecast, with business enterprising switching to electronic and digital channels.

It said firm steps are being taken to address issues impacting its key revenue generators, postal services and courier business, but the outcome of these steps will only be evident in the medium term.