NZ Post has delivered a $17 million annual profit and a multimillion-dollar dividend to the Crown, but E tū says the workers behind the turnaround should also see the benefits — particularly those still earning below the Living Wage.
The state-owned postal company has reported a net profit of $17 million for the year to June 30, 2026, representing a $19 million turnaround from the previous year’s $2 million loss.
Revenue increased to $1.27 billion, while NZ Post’s independently assessed enterprise value climbed to $808 million.
The company also delivered a 14.6 percent total shareholder return and declared a $12.5 million dividend to the Crown.
For E tū, the figures demonstrate that despite dramatic changes in the way New Zealanders communicate and shop, the postal network remains both an essential national service and a valuable publicly owned business.
Workers at the centre of turnaround
E tū, which represents NZ Post workers, says the financial recovery has been built on the efforts of the people sorting freight and mail, driving vehicles and delivering parcels and letters into communities throughout Aotearoa.
The union argues those workers should now share in the company’s improved fortunes.
NZ Post worker and E tū delegate Larissa Moriarty says employees take considerable pride in maintaining a service New Zealanders rely on regardless of weather, geography or workload.
But E tū says some NZ Post employees remain on wages below the Living Wage, creating a sharp contrast between the company’s improved financial position and what some of its workers are taking home.
$12.5m for the Crown puts wages under spotlight
The declaration of a $12.5 million dividend is likely to sharpen that argument.
E tū Director Mat Danaher says NZ Post’s performance demonstrates the value of retaining important infrastructure in public ownership, with the company simultaneously delivering services throughout the country, generating a profit and returning money to the Government.
But the union believes the same principle should extend to the workforce.
Its argument is straightforward: if NZ Post is financially strong enough to deliver a return to its shareholder, the Crown, then the people whose labour helped create that value should receive fair wages.
The changing face of NZ Post
The result comes as NZ Post continues adapting to a postal market transformed by falling traditional letter volumes and the growth of online shopping and parcel deliveries.
That transition has forced postal operators internationally to rethink their businesses, and NZ Post has been no exception.
For workers, however, transformation can bring uncertainty alongside opportunity, particularly as companies restructure networks, introduce new technology and search for efficiencies.
That makes the company’s return to profitability significant beyond the headline $17 million figure.
The debate will now turn to how that success is distributed.
Public ownership under the microscope
There is also a broader political question.
As a state-owned enterprise, NZ Post is expected to operate commercially while remaining an asset ultimately owned by New Zealanders.
E tū argues this year’s result demonstrates those two objectives do not have to be mutually exclusive.
A national postal network can reach communities across Aotearoa, support businesses and households and still generate a financial return to the Crown.
For smaller towns, rural communities, kaumātua and whānau who continue to depend on physical postal and parcel services, that national reach remains particularly important.
But for the union, profitability cannot be the only measure of success.
If a publicly owned company can return millions of dollars to the Government while some of the people delivering its services earn less than the Living Wage, E tū says there is a legitimate question about who should share in the rewards of the turnaround.
NZ Post has demonstrated it can return to profit.
The next test, according to the union, is whether that improved financial position also reaches the workers who helped deliver it.
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