Charges taken in connection to a mandate to prefund retiree health care drove the loss in the latest quarter, but declining first-class and advertising mail volume were a drag on revenue.
The answer is unequivocally yes and I am happy to announce that we will be initiating an advance payment today to prefund the principal payment that is due in March 2013.
Companies may take a strategic decision to prefund for 2014 and even part way into 2015 knowing that it will likely be more expensive to do so next year, Mr. Ritchie added.
However, with careful planning, they are in a position where their mortgage is paid off the year before their oldest child goes to college, thereby having available cash flow to pick up what they were unable to prefund.