Fresh from ratification of its five-year contract with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, UPS reported fourth-quarter revenues of $13.4 billion, up from $12.6 billion the prior-year period. "The fourth quarter produced solid growth in spite of a sluggish US economy. Consolidated average daily package volume reached a record level of 17.7 million pieces, an increase of 359,000 per day," said UPS.
For the full year, the company delivered a record 3.97 billion packages, an average of 15.8 million per day. Consolidated revenue was up 4.5% to $49.7 billion. Before adjustments, operating profit equaled $578 million.
US package revenues for the quarter were $8.31 billion, up from $8.13 billion. International package revenues were $2.87, up from $2.44 billion for the 2006 fourth quarter. Supply chain and freight (the company's third party and less-than-truckload operations, respectively) reported revenues of $2.22 billion, up from $2.06 billion a year earlier. The LTL operation saw revenues of $525 million, up 12.2%. Shipments per day were up 7.8%. The forwarding and logistics unit reported revenues up 6.4% in the quarter to $1.57 billion.
"While there is more uncertainty in the US economy today than there was a year ago, we remain focused and confident that we will grow our global business," said Kurt Kuehn, CFO for UPS. "We anticipate the first quarter will be the most difficult of the year due to lower profitability from an early Easter and additional interest expense not yet offset by labor contract benefits," he continued.
