UPS quarterly profit beats as pandemic spurs home deliveries

(Reuters) – United Parcel Service Inc beat profit expectations on Wednesday, helped by a surge in home deliveries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Average daily volumes in the United States rose 13.8% on continued strength in residential demand, the company said.

“Our results were fueled by continued strong outbound demand from Asia and growth from small and medium-sized businesses,” Chief Executive Officer Carol Tom said in a statement.

Last month, the company said it would hire more than 100,000 workers for the winter holiday season, which retailers are stretching out to avoid overwhelming a delivery network already taxed by pandemic-fueled online shopping.

Net income rose to about $2 billion, or $2.24 per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with $1.75 billion, or $2.01 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, UPS earned $2.28 per share, beating analysts’ average estimate of $1.90 per share, according to Refinitiv data.

Revenue rose to $21.24 billion from $18.32 billion in the same period a year ago.

(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru and Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; Editing by Arun Koyyur)