UPS profit rises ahead of peak holiday season

[ATLANTA] United Parcel Service reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and revenue on Tuesday, bolstered by strong e-commerce demand that has driven the delivery giant to raise shipping rates and cherry-pick more profitable customers.

The Atlanta-based company, which is heading into the peak holiday delivery season, raised its forecast for full-year adjusted operating margin to 13 per cent from 12.7 per cent.

UPS shares jumped 6.7 per cent to US$217.46 on the results, which also lifted rival FedEx 1.7 per cent.

UPS again plans to hold customers to agreed-upon holiday volumes to avoid overloading its facilities and staff. Volume growth for its biggest customers, including number 1 user Amazon.com, will decline as UPS works to deliver more packages for small businesses and commercial users.

To that end, chief executive Carol Tome said UPS is back to handling about the same number of Amazon packages as in 2019 - before pandemic-fuelled shipments surged and shipping rival Amazon added significant home delivery capacity.

Total revenue rose 9.2 per cent to US$23.2 billion for the third quarter, topping analysts' average estimate for US$22.6 billion, according to Refinitiv I/B/E/S data.

Adjusted operating profit jumped 23.4 per cent to US$2.9 billion, or US$2.71 per share, above the average analyst estimate of US$2.55.

In September, FedEx posted a 7 per cent drop in quarterly profit and cut its full-year forecast after staffing shortages and turnover drove US$450 million in excess labour costs and caused home delivery hiccups.

UPS appears to be benefiting from its unionised workforce, which is among the best compensated in the country. It is using technology and other tools to make its network more efficient and during the latest quarter, direct labour hours per day declined 5.1 per cent.

This holiday season, UPS will offer Saturday delivery across the United States and send oversized, bulky and heavy packages via Roadie - a crowd-sourced, same-day delivery company it is buying this quarter.

REUTERS