UPS Forecasts Higher Profits for 2012

October 24, 2012: UPS released its third-quarter financials yesterday, and has upgraded its projected profits for 2012. 

Once again, UPS Teamsters drove the company’s revenue. International package volume dropped by 3.7% or 400,000 packages a day. U.S. package revenue increased $94 million over last year, driven by a 3.7% gain in daily volume.

UPS said its overall profit for the third quarter would have been about $1.66 billion, down just a fraction from $1.67 billion last year. This comes to after-tax profits of $1.03 billion.

Instead, UPS reported after-tax profits of $469 million. That’s because UPS deducted a one-time $559 million charge for restructuring Teamster pensions in New England. 

This led to misleading headlines in some press reports, like “UPS reports 56% drop in third quarter profits.” 

No doubt, UPS managers and sups will try to play this number up. It’s contract time after all.

The truth is the New England pension deal and one-time charge will deliver huge savings for the company over time. Under the same deal, UPS’s contributions to Teamster pensions in New England will be frozen at the same level for the next ten years. 

While UPS is reporting the $559 million charge now, they are actually paying it off over the next 50 years! For more on the New England pension deal, click here.

On a conference call with investors and analysts, UPS’s chief financial officer, Kurt P. Kuehn, said the company was raising its profit projections for the year. 

“Given our performance and greater confidence in fourth-quarter execution, we have enhanced our full-year earnings guidance,”  Kuehn said. 

You can see UPS’s quarterly financial report here.

UPS Freight Profit Grows

UPS reported that the Supply Chain and Freight segment remained strong, with an operating margin of 8.3%. 

The international freight forwarding unit was slightly down, which was more than offset by gains at UPS Freight.   

UPS Freight revenue increased 3.6% as shipments per day were slightly up. LTL revenue per hundredweight and gross weight hauled improved over the prior year period, resulting in operating margin expansion. 

You can see UPS’s quarterly financial report here.

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