Tag: USA

UPS today reported a solid revenue gain of 10.2% in its fourth quarter and earnings of USD0.76 per diluted share, up 1.3% compared to the prior-year period. For the full year, revenue increased to a record USD36.6 billion while net income climbed 15%. Consolidated revenue for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2004, rose to USD9.84 billion, with strong double-digit growth reported by the international and non-package segments and a 6.6% increase by the US domestic segment. “Our global small package business remains strong and 2004 was an excellent year,” said Scott Davis, UPS’s chief financial officer. “UPS delivered almost 3.6 billion packages in 2004 – the most in our history – although we were disappointed with our US ground volume growth in the fourth quarter. As a result, we will focus several new efforts in this area in the coming months.”

UPS will have some explaining to do when it releases its fourth-quarter earnings Thursday. The package delivery giant cut its forecast two weeks ago, citing weather issues and sluggish demand in the last week of the year. The explanation left analysts unconvinced. “We expect UPS management to admit several planning and execution shortfalls,” said Bear Stearns analyst Edward Wolfe. UPS is projected to earn 76 cents a share, up 8 percent from the year-earlier period. Sales are pegged at USD9.76 billion, up 9 percent from the same time last year, according to analysts. Before it lowered its forecast, the company had targeted a profit in the range of 83 cents to 87 cents a share. Shares of UPS have slipped over 8 percent since the Jan. 11 announcement that sparked two downgrades. So what’s gone wrong? Analysts sense rival FedEx is nipping at the heels of UPS in the ground delivery business. And DHL is looking to take market share as well, undercutting UPS on price. In addition, UPS might be running into problems rolling out new technology to deliver packages. When completed, the overall is expected to save the company USD600 million a year.