UPS Reports 16% Income Growth For First Quarter

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PS Inc. reported Thursday its net income rose to $882 million or 78 cents a share, up 16% from $759 million or 67 cents a year earlier.

The earnings topped analysts’ expectations of 73 cents a share, Bloomberg reported.

Revenue rose 10.8% to $9.89 billion, the company said in a statement. UPS is ranked No. 1 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of the largest U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.

Worldwide package volume rose 3% for the quarter and export volume rose 9.3%, UPS said. Shipments from Asia rose 36%, led by a doubling of Chinese exports, primarily electronics and textiles.

“We grew our international operating profit by more than 25% and we did a very good job of managing our costs,” said Scott Davis, UPS’s chief financial officer.

The company projected earnings per share for the second quarter of 82 to 87 cents, up from last year’s 72 cents. U.S. domestic volume growth should be 2% to 3% for the year, it said.

It also said it was changing its management bonus program to a performance-based plan from a fixed profit-sharing plan.

UPS had said in its fourth-quarter 2004 earnings statement in January that it planned to cut $200 million in costs this year. (Click here for previous coverage.)