December 21, 2005 2:00 PM, EST

FedEx Reports Jump in Its Second-Quarter Income

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edEx Corp. Wednesday said its profit for the second fiscal quarter ended Nov. 30 was $471 million or $1.53 a share, up from $354 million or $1.15 a year earlier.

img src="/sites/default/files/images/articles/fedexcorporatelogo.gif" width=90 align=right>The company’s revenue rose 10% to $8.09 billion over the previous second quarter, FedEx said in a statement.

FedEx, ranked No. 2 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers, said it a statement that it expects to earn $1.15 to $1.30 a share in its fiscal third quarter.

It also boosted its full-year earnings forecast to $5.45 to $5.70 per share, up from its previous forecast of $5.25 to $5.50 a share.

The quarter’s results did not include much of the busy holiday shipping season. FedEx’s busiest shipping day was Dec. 12, when its ground and air networks transported 8.5 million packages, a 40% increase over its normal daily volume, Bloomberg reported.

FedEx said in early December that it would raise the rates for FedEx Ground services next year by an average of 3.9%. (Click here for previous coverage.)

Second-quarter operating income soared 32% to $790 million from a year earlier, the company said.

Less-than-truckload unit FedEx Freight’s operating income jumped 32% over the previous second quarter to $135 million, while revenue rose 14% to $932 million. LTL yield improved 8% year-over-year, reflecting higher fuel surcharges, the company said.

FedEx Express’ operating income rose 43% to $476 million, while revenue at the package-delivery unit rose 11% to $5.37 billion.

FedEx Ground’s operating income rose 21% to $135 million, while revenue rose 11% to $1.31 billion for the quarter.

FedEx Kinko's operating income dropped 45% to $16 million, while revenue rose 1% to $528 million. FedEx acquired Kinko's in early 2004.