“United Parcel Service Inc. UPS -1.21% swung to a fourth-quarter loss on a pension-accounting related charge of $3 billion, masking broad revenue growth.
Adjusted earnings missed Wall Street estimates and the company projected a weak 2013 profit. For the year, the package-delivery giant estimated per-share earnings of between $4.80 and $5.06, while analysts polled by Thomson Reuters recently expected $5.11.
UPS and other big transport companies are viewed as economic bellwethers because they transport everything from financial documents and pharmaceuticals to auto parts and electronic devices. The company recently abandoned its roughly $6.7 billion deal for Dutch rival TNT Express NV TNTE.AE -1.66% as it anticipated that the proposed merger would be blocked by European competition authorities.
For the latest quarter, the company reported international volume—viewed as an indicator of global trade—grew 2.2%.
Meanwhile, international export volume—a measure of how many packages cross national borders—was up 5.5% after increasing slightly during the third quarter, helped by growth out of Asia for the first time in several quarters.
Average revenue per package increased 1.4%. The measure had slipped in the third quarter despite higher volume as its handles an increasing number of lighter-weight, e-commerce related shipments….”
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