Postal Service Reports Profit

A combination of cost-cutting and a good interest rate on the investment of excess cash brought the U.S. Postal Service a $304.6-million profit for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, Postmaster General Preston R. Tisch reported today.

The 1986 budget projected a break-even year, and Tisch characterized the surplus as “close to our break-even mandate.” The Postal Service had lost $251 million a year earlier. Next year’s budget has been calculated without a rate increase.