CHICAGO (Reuters) — United Parcel Service posted a better-than-expected profit yesterday, offsetting a slower market for small packages in the United States with a boost from global markets and its supply-chain and freight unit.þþU.P.S. shares rose 14 cents, or 0.19 percent, to $74.68 on the New York Stock Exchange.þþ“It’s a solid but not spectacular quarter,” said David Sandell, a portfolio manager at Leeb Capital Management in New York. “International growth is strong, and that’s where their future lies.”þþU.P.S., the world’s largest package delivery company, reported second-quarter net income of $1.10 billion, or $1.04 a share, compared with $1.06 billion, or 97 cents a share, a year earlier.þþWall Street analysts, on average, had expected earnings of $1.03 a share, according to Reuters Estimates.þþThe company, based in Atlanta, reported revenue for the quarter of $12.19 billion, up from $11.74 billion in the same quarter in 2006. Analysts had expected revenue of $12.26 billion.þþRevenue from U.P.S.’s small-package business in the United States rose to $7.58 billion, from $7.46 billion, with price increases offsetting a drop in average daily package volumes to 13.23 million, from 13.25 million.þþLike its main rival, FedEx, U.P.S. is seen as a bellwether of economic health, based on the simple premise that the better the economy performs the more packages these companies deliver.þþRevenue at the company’s international business increased to $2.50 billion from $2.23 billion, with total export volume up 10.4 percent.þþSecond-quarter revenue at U.P.S.’s supply-chain and freight unit rose to $2.11 billion, from $2.04 billion a year earlier. The supply-chain business handles services for clients including inventory management, billing and, in some cases, repairs.þþU.P.S. said that in the third quarter it expected earnings of 99 cents to $1.04 a share.þþIn a conference call, Michael L. Eskew, the chief executive, said he was optimistic about a new contract with the company’s union drivers, who are represented by the Teamsters union. Analysts see the possibility of a strike as a potential risk for U.P.S.þþ
Source: NY Times
