UPS Inc. (UPS) reported a year-over-year increase in revenue during the third quarter of 2024 despite challenging market conditions.
On October 24, the Atlanta-based shipping and logistics company announced that its net income for the July to September period reached US$1.54 billion, up from US$1.13 billion during the same period last year.
Total consolidated revenue also increased by 5.6% year over year, rising to US$22.2 billion from US$21.1 billion the previous year.
UPS said the revenue increase was driven by a 6.5% increase in average daily volume.
"In the third quarter, we faced a macro environment that was slightly worse than we expected," UPS CEO Carol Tomé told a conference call.
She noted that online sales in the US have slowed, and manufacturing activity also came lower than expected.
"This slowdown in manufacturing activity was also true outside of the US, as we continue to see lower industrial production weigh on volume in certain geographies," Tomé added.
The UPS chief noted that the company secured gains despite difficult market conditions by concentrating on more advantageous market segments and controlling expenses through continuous productivity efforts.
The company also grew its B2B volume by almost a percentage year over year in the third quarter.
For its US Domestic segment, UPS reported revenue of US$14.5 billion, up 5.8% year-over-year during the same third-quarter period.
International segment revenue also increased by 3.4% to US$4.41 billion in the third quarter.
UPS' Supply Chain Solutions segment saw revenue grow 8% to US$3.38 billion, driven mainly by expansion in air and ocean forwarding and the continued onboarding of USPS air cargo.
Tomé noted UPS' goal to become the number one global healthcare logistics provider and said last month that it entered into a deal to acquire Frigo-Trans, a complex healthcare logistics provider based in Germany.
The UPS chief noted that this acquisition would boost the company's end-to-end temperature-sensitive healthcare capabilities across Europe.
"We have a goal to become the No. 1 complex healthcare logistics provider in the world," Tomé said, noting that 80% of pharma products in Europe require temperature-controlled transportation.
"To that end, we said we would pursue certain inorganic opportunities, and we have," she added, referring to the Frigo-Trans deal.
UPS is looking to close the deal in the first quarter of 2025, subject to customary regulatory reviews and approvals.
Meanwhile, UPS is also looking to expand its US domestic business.
Tomé said the company has been onboarding its new air cargo business with the United States Postal Service (USPS).
"During the third quarter, our network planning teams worked closely with the USPS to ensure the transition progressed smoothly, and it did. As of October 1, all contracted USPS air cargo business has been fully onboarded, and we expect this business to deliver strong, consistent revenue and an attractive margin," she added.
UPS also completed its sale of the global 3PL company Coyote Logistics. The company earlier reported entering into an agreement to sell its Coyote Logistics business unit to RXO, Inc., for US$1.025 billion.
