United Parcel Service Inc. on Thursday reported a better-than-expected jump in quarterly profit as domestic volumes and international business at the world’s biggest package carrier picked up.
The Atlanta company said first-quarter profit was $759 million, or 67 cents a share, up from $611 million, or 54 cents a share a year earlier.
Wall Street analysts had expected UPS, whose brown trucks and jets deliver more than 13 million items daily, to earn 62 cents a share. according to the Reuters Research unit of Reuters Group Plc. Forecasts among 16 analysts ranged from 59 cents a share to 63 cents a share.
Quarterly revenue rose to $8.92 billion, or 11.3 percent more than the $8.02 billion posted for January, February and March 2003. Analysts had forecast first-quarter 2004 revenue of about $8.7 billion, according to Reuters Research.
Shares of UPS fell 43 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $70.77 in early trading on The New York Stock Exchange.
The company said volumes in its core domestic market had risen 5 percent and that profits from international operations had doubled to $269 million. Revenue at the company’s logistics and other non-package businesses rose 9.7 percent to $760 million, while its operating profit rose 9.3 percent to $117 million.
“We saw strong margins across all segments and that’s very encouraging,” said Scott Davis, chief financial officer.
The company said domestic volumes totaled 12.45 million items each day, with ground deliveries increasing 5.2 percent from a year earlier and deferred deliveries going up 5.8 percent.
UPS said its revenue from domestic packages rose 8.6 percent to $6.54 billion as operating profit rose 18 percent to $831 million. Domestic profit margins rose by 100 basis points.
International deliveries rose 6.4 percent to 1.33 million items, UPS said. Exports from the United States increased nearly 13 percent, and exports from China carried by UPS shot up 60 percent.
“Looking ahead, the company said it expected second-quarter earnings between 67 cents a share and 72 cents a share, up from 60 cents a share in the year-ago quarter. Analysts had been forecasting 70 cents a share, according to Reuters Research.
