SA Post Office not insolvent
The South African Post Office denied on Thursday that it was technically insolvent saying “(such) reports are far from the truth and represent a serious deviation from the facts”. It was responding after opposition parties lambasted the Post Office on Wednesday for continuing operating losses and tabling its annual report late in Parliament. “To understand the state of the Post Office finances it is important to look at the state of affairs from a holistic point of view. “Analysing figures selectively could only serve to press unnecessary panic buttons,” South African Post Office spokesman Robert Nkuna said. The Democratic Alliance said the Post Office was supposed to be a break-even enterprise by the 2001 financial year. It posted a net loss of R850-million, and a year later, in 2002, it was still R500-million in the red. Despite receiving government subsidies of R600-million for the 2002 financial year, the Post Office still posted a net loss of more than R511-million. Nkuna said the finances in question were for 2002 financial year, which meant the picture painted did not reflect the current situation. He said when the new management took over the Post Office, there was an accumulated loss of about R800 million which has since been reduced to under R200 million. He said achieving break-even refers to sustaining operations and did not include addressing issues such as the pension and medical aid legacy. “From an operational point of view, the company has been performing very well, such that we are still confident that break-even will be achieved by the end of the current financial year.” Nkuna said all the financial statement were tabled on time. New National Party communications spokeswoman Anna van Wyk said in a statement on Wednesday the fact that the Post Office was “technically insolvent” came as no surprise, and the financial report released by auditors KPMG “merely confirms what has been known for some time”. Sapa 07/10/03 13-32 C=100
Copyright 2003 SAPA. Source : Financial Times Information Limited
