FedEx Reports Fourth-Quarter Loss
FedEx Corp. reported a fourth-quarter loss Wednesday of $241 million, or 78 cents a share, citing higher fuel costs and a writedown at its Kinko’s unit.
The loss compared with a profit of $610 million, or $1.96 a share, in last year’s fourth quarter. It reported an operating loss of $163 million, down from income of $1.01 billion a year ago.
Excluding the charges, and a 6-cent charge in last year’s fourth-quarter, its earnings were $1.45 per share, compared with $1.90 a year ago, for the fiscal quarter ended May 31.
For its full fiscal year, FedEx earned $1.13 billion, or $3.60 per share, down from $2.02 billion, or $6.48 per share, a year ago. Revenue rose 8% to $38 billion.
“Record high fuel prices and the weak U.S. economy dampened volume growth and substantially affected our bottom line,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frederick Smith said in a statement.
FedEx said in May that its fourth-quarter profit would be $1.45 to $1.50 per share, down from a previous prediction of $1.60 to $1.80 per share. (Click here for previous coverage.)
It said earlier this month that it was rebranding its Kinko’s unit as FedEx Office and would take a charge of $891 million, or $2.22 per share, associated with the move. (Click here for previous coverage.)
Fourth-quarter operating income at the less-than-truckload FedEx Freight unit fell 21% from a year ago to $99 million, while revenue rose 5% to $1.31 billion. LTL shipments gained 3%.
Operating income at the FedEx Ground segment declined 26% to $203 million, while revenue rose 8% to $1.72 billion.
FedEx Express’ operating income plunged 31% to $426 million, while revenue gained 9% to $6.37 billion.
FedEx Corp. is ranked No. 2 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
