Earnings Labs

United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS)

Q4 2012 Earnings Call· Thu, Jan 31, 2013

$103.92

-4.62%

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Andy Dolny

Management

Scott Davis

Management

David Abney

Management

Well, thanks David and good morning everyone. On a consolidated basis UPS fundamentals are strong as ever. We wrapped up the year with free cash flow of approximately $5.4 billion and although we feel short of our target for the year, UPS generated record earnings per share of $4.53. This was achieved in the face of weak global trade and in spite of superstorm Sandy which cost us about $0.05 a share.UPS annual revenue of $54.1 billion was our highest ever, as were the 4.1 billion packages we delivered globally. Pricing improvements, along with the efficiencies that David highlighted, led to margin expansion. For the quarter, consolidated package volume grew 3% per day. Revenue of $14.6 billion set a record as did operating profit at $2 billion.While the U.S domestic segment improved profitability, international experienced a slight decline and faced with a margin squeeze in forwarding, the supply chain and freight segment also exhibited lower profit.Now let’s review our results in detail, starting with the U.S domestic segment. In the U.S, we fired on all cylinders. Operating profit was nearly $1.4 billion, a new high. Average daily volume grew 3% with Next Day Air up almost 8% and Ground up 3%, driven by expansion in B2C shipments.Despite slightly weaker than forecast holiday retail sales, shoppers went online like never before. We experienced strong growth in Next Day Air Saver and traditional UPS Ground and of course our lightweight solution SurePost, was also popular this holiday season. We continued to see strong growth there, even though we wrapped last year’s rollout of this product.Revenue for the segment grew 3%, with Next Day Air and Ground up 5.4% and 3.4% respectively. Revenue per piece increased 1.7%, driven by base rate improvements in both Ground and Air. As a result of increased demand…

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Well, thanks David and good morning everyone. On a consolidated basis UPS fundamentals are strong as ever. We wrapped up the year with free cash flow of approximately $5.4 billion and although we feel short of our target for the year, UPS generated record earnings per share of $4.53. This was achieved in the face of weak global trade and in spite of superstorm Sandy which cost us about $0.05 a share.UPS annual revenue of $54.1 billion was our highest ever, as were the 4.1 billion packages we delivered globally. Pricing improvements, along with the efficiencies that David highlighted, led to margin expansion. For the quarter, consolidated package volume grew 3% per day. Revenue of $14.6 billion set a record as did operating profit at $2 billion.While the U.S domestic segment improved profitability, international experienced a slight decline and faced with a margin squeeze in forwarding, the supply chain and freight segment also exhibited lower profit.Now let’s review our results in detail, starting with the U.S domestic segment. In the U.S, we fired on all cylinders. Operating profit was nearly $1.4 billion, a new high. Average daily volume grew 3% with Next Day Air up almost 8% and Ground up 3%, driven by expansion in B2C shipments.Despite slightly weaker than forecast holiday retail sales, shoppers went online like never before. We experienced strong growth in Next Day Air Saver and traditional UPS Ground and of course our lightweight solution SurePost, was also popular this holiday season. We continued to see strong growth there, even though we wrapped last year’s rollout of this product.Revenue for the segment grew 3%, with Next Day Air and Ground up 5.4% and 3.4% respectively. Revenue per piece increased 1.7%, driven by base rate improvements in both Ground and Air. As a result of increased demand…

Operator

Operator

Justin B. Yagerman – Deutsche Bank AG:

Scott Davis

Management

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Justin B. Yagerman – Deutsche Bank AG:

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Daniel Brutto

Management

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Operator

Operator

Tom Wadewitz - JPMorgan

Management

Scott Davis

Management

David Abney

Management

Operator

Operator

David Vernon - Sanford C. Bernstein

Management

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Scott Davis

Management

David Vernon - Sanford C. Bernstein

Management

Scott Davis

Management

David Vernon - Sanford C. Bernstein

Management

Andy Dolny

Management

Scott Davis

Management

Operator

Operator

Benjamin J. Hartford –Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.:

Kurt Kuehn

Management

David Abney

Management

Daniel Brutto

Management

Operator

Operator

Christopher J. Ceraso - Crédit Suisse AG:

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Scott Davis

Management

Operator

Operator

Ken Hoexter – Bank of America Merrill Lynch:

Scott Davis

Management

Daniel Brutto

Management

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Scott Davis

Management

Alan Gershenhorn

Management

Operator

Operator

Bill Greene - Morgan Stanley

Management

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Operator

Operator

Scott Group - Wolfe Trahan

Management

Scott Davis

Management

Myron Gray

Management

Scott Davis

Management

David Abney

Management

Operator

Operator

Arthur W. Hatfield – Raymond James & Associates, Inc.:

Scott Davis

Management

Daniel Brutto

Management

Operator

Operator

Christian Wetherbee – Citigroup Inc.:

Scott Davis

Management

Daniel Brutto

Management

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Alan Gershenhorn

Management

Scott Davis

Management

Operator

Operator

Kevin Sterling - BB&T Capital Markets:

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Alan Gershenhorn

Management

Operator

Operator

Nathan Brochmann - William Blair & Company:

Scott Davis

Management

Daniel Brutto

Management

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Operator

Operator

Jeff Kauffman – Sterne Agee:

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Scott Davis

Management

Operator

Operator

Brandon Oglenski – Barclays:

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Myron Gray

Management

Kurt Kuehn

Management

David Abney

Management

Scott Davis

Management

Operator

Operator

Helane Becker - Dahlman Rose & Company:

Scott Davis

Management

David Abney

Management

Scott Davis

Management

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Operator

Operator

Peter Nesvold - Jeffries & Company:

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Operator

Operator

Tom Kim - Goldman Sachs

Management

Scott Davis

Management

Daniel Brutto

Management

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Tom Kim - Goldman Sachs

Management

Kurt Kuehn

Management

Tom Kim - Goldman Sachs

Management

Scott Davis

Management