FedEx Corp. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit slipped to $550 million, or $1.73 per share, from $558 million, or $1.75, a year ago.
Revenue for the fiscal quarter ended May 31 rose 3.8% to $11 billion, the company said.
FedEx had forecast earning $1.75 to $2 per share. Excluding a recently announced $84 million charge for retiring airfreight jets, the company said it earned $1.99 per share.
For the full year, FedEx earned $2.03 billion, or $6.41 per share, up from $1.45 billion, or $4.57 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $42.7 billion, from $39.3 billion.
Less-than-truckload unit FedEx Freight’s operating income almost doubled, to $81 million from $42 million a year ago. Revenue rose 7% to $1.31 billion as average daily LTL shipments gained 3%.
FedEx Ground’s operating income rose 18% to $494 million, with revenue up 9% to $2.48 billion. Revenue per package rose 5%.
Its FedEx Express unit’s operating income fell 35%, as U.S. daily package volume dropped 5% and international volumes slipped 3%. Revenue rose 2.6% to $6.8 billion.
The company plans to restructure the Express unit in the current fiscal year, Chief Financial Officer Alan Graf said in a conference call Tuesday, Bloomberg reported.
FedEx projected it will earn $1.45 to $1.60 for its current first fiscal quarter, and $6.90 to $7.40 per share for the 2013 fiscal year.
FedEx Corp. is ranked No. 2 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.
