Russian economic nightmare as national post firm sees £139m loss

 

Russian Post Suffers Massive First Quarter Loss Amid Worsening Economic Climate

Russia is grappling with renewed economic strain as its national postal service, JSC Russian Post, reported a sharp rise in losses for the first quarter of 2025. According to financial data cited by Russian news agency Interfax, the company's net loss surged to 14.9 billion rubles (£139 million), more than double the figure from the same period in 2024.

Revenue for the January–March period totaled 52.5 billion rubles (£490 million), marking a 4.4% decline year-over-year. Income from core postal services dropped by 9.3% to 26.5 billion rubles (£247 million), while revenue from merchandise sales fell 5.2% to 6.2 billion rubles (£57 million). However, commissions for processing pension and benefit payments increased by 1.9%, reaching 8.7 billion rubles (£81 million). The company also continued to earn commissions for handling utility bill payments.

Operating losses rose dramatically, increasing 1.8 times to 10 billion rubles (£93 million). Pre-tax losses reached nearly 15 billion rubles (£140 million), a 70% increase compared to the first quarter of last year.

This financial blow comes as Russia’s broader economic indicators show mixed signals. On Monday, the Moscow Exchange saw early losses, with the MOEX Index dropping by 1.18% to 2,795.5 points, and the RTS Index falling by the same percentage to 1,120.17 points, according to data from TASS.

Despite these setbacks, there was a slight uptick in manufacturing activity. Russia’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 50.2 in May, up from 49.3 in April, according to S&P Global. While this signals a return to modest growth—since any reading above 50 suggests expansion—the report noted the increase was marginal and still below the long-term average.

Analysts attributed the slight PMI improvement to a rise in new manufacturing orders during May, providing a glimmer of optimism amid broader economic concerns.