Correios presented, this Wednesday (15), the measures that form part of the first phase of the financial and operational restructuring plan to guarantee the sustainability and modernization of the state-owned company.
Among them, the company is negotiating a loan of R$20 billion with banks, with a guarantee from the National Treasury, to fund Correios operations and financially balance the institution in the 2025-2026 biennium and to generate profit from 2027.
From January to June this year, Correios recorded a loss of R$4.36 billion, while in the same period in 2024, the deficit was R$1.3 billion.
According to the new president of Correios, Emmanoel Rondon, who has been in office for 21 days, one of the factors that contributed to the negative accounts was the growing competition in e-commerce.
“Our company did not adapt quickly to a new reality and this caused us to suffer in terms of results, cash generation and the operation itself. So, in recent years, what has been happening in the company is that the loss of competitiveness has caused us to lose revenue”, admitted Rondon.
According to the president, Postalis (complementary pension fund for Correios employees and one of the largest in the country) is one of the public company’s relevant expense items and it is necessary to negotiate a better solution than what currently exists.
Measures announced
Among the restructuring measures announced are the cutting of operating and administrative expenses, the search for revenue diversification and the recovery of the company’s liquidity.
To cut expenses, the company will launch a new Voluntary Dismissal Program (PDV), with mapping of the workforce across the country and idle areas.
“This voluntary dismissal program is being handled very carefully to see in the country where we have inefficiencies and idleness and not work in a linear way, losing operational capacity where we already are, generating all the potential results that we can achieve”, says Rondon.
The state-owned company also plans to sell idle properties, which could represent the entry of new resources, accompanied by a reduction in spending on maintaining these spaces.
For the public company to rebalance its accounts, the financial plan also foresees the reduction of operational costs with the renegotiation of contracts with the company’s largest suppliers, in search of more advantageous conditions, without putting the legal security of operations at risk.
Correios, whose brand is the postal service, plans to expand its portfolio of products and services to capture and generate new revenue. The company is making an effort to reconnect with major clients, at the same time as it studies international experiences linked to the logistics network, especially in the area of financial services, and also plans the launch of products.
“Normally, companies that generate profits managed to adapt quickly and increased their portfolio of product offerings, with emphasis on financial services and security services, which are the flagships of most companies that generate positive results”, assesses the president of the state-owned company.
To recover liquidity, the company hopes that raising loan resources will help finance other restructuring measures.
“We are negotiating the operation to rebalance the company in 2025 and 2026, to have time to adopt the measures that begin to have an impact in 2026, so that in 2027 we can start a blue balance sheet cycle. The idea is that in 2027 the company will already be rebalanced and profitable.”
Previous package
After closing the year 2024 in the red, with a total loss of R$2.6 billion, the company announced, in May this year, a package of measures which included another voluntary dismissal program (PDV); reduction of working hours to 6 hours per day in administrative units; temporary suspension of the 2025 holidays and the decree of the end of remote work.
As a result, the last edition of the Correios PDV ended with the voluntary dismissal of around 3,500 employees, which generated annual savings of approximately R$750 million for the state-owned company.
President Emmanoel Rondon compared the measures from the first semester to those announced now. “Those were emergency measures, they were not structural. What we are looking for now are structural measures that allow the company to balance in the coming years.”
Asked whether the management of Correios is considering the privatization of the state-owned company, the new president replied that the measures studied for the short term are greater than those taken in the recent past and these could fulfill the role of restructuring the company. Rondon said that new measures are being analyzed and could accompany the structuring actions announced this Wednesday.
“Right now, we are trying to have the company’s financial balance, so that its revenues are sufficient to pay the expenses we have every month, to get out of this discussion about the company’s viability or not. The company will get on its feet and will be viable.”
President Emmanoel Rondon stated that Correios has the capacity to generate revenue. “If we normalize its cash situation and the operation, [os Correios] have the capacity to generate enough revenue to pay expenses.”
Structure
The Post Office is present in 100% of Brazil’s municipalities. The country has 5,568 municipalities, in addition to the Federal District and the State District of Fernando de Noronha (PE), according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
The state-owned company’s structure encompasses more than 10,000 service agencies, 8,000 operational units (distribution and processing of orders and correspondence), 23,000 vehicles and 80,000 direct employees.
