Led by a 21.5 percent gain in worldwide revenue, UPS yesterday reported net income of $1.05 billion and a 25 percent increase in diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter. For the full year, adjusted earnings per share climbed 19.7 percent for the Atlanta-based company, and it generated $3.5 billion in free cash flow.
The 12-month period also produced record volume, with UPS delivering 3.75 billion packages, an average of 14.8 million a day.
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005, global volume increased 7.9 percent to a record 16.8 million packages a day. U.S. volume grew 6.2 percent, paced by an 8.5 percent increase in deferred air volume and a 6.3 percent increase in Next Day Air packages. Average daily ground volume in the United States rose 5.9 percent.
Internationally, average daily package volume rose 25.1 percent to 1.8 million a day, and export volume was strong with a 15.4 percent increase.
Revenue for the fourth quarter climbed 21.5 percent to $11.95 billion, including the impact of acquisitions. Consolidated operating profit jumped 42.1 percent to $1.71 billion. Adjusting Q4 2004 results for an aircraft impairment charge and a charge to pension expense, operating profit jumped 24.3 percent.
Highlights for the fourth quarter include:
· U.S. domestic package revenue grew 8.9 percent to $7.82 billion. Boosted by a strong holiday season, all products experienced strong volume growth. Excluding the impact of the 2004 aircraft impairment and pension charges, operating profit rose 21.9 percent to $1.24 billion. The U.S. segment's operating margin increased 15.8 percent.
· International package revenue rose 18.3 percent to $2.22 billion. Excluding the impact of the impairment charge, operating profit climbed 25.3 percent to $431 million. Export volume grew 15.4 percent with double-digit growth across Asia, Europe and the United States. International domestic volume climbed 31.7 percent, aided by acquisitions in Europe during the year. The international operating margin increased to 19.4 percent.
Melissa Campanelli covers postal news, CRM and database marketing for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
