FedEx’s 4Q Earnings Rise 7%

FedEx Corp. said Wednesday its fiscal fourth-quarter profit rose 7% to $610 million or $1.96 per share, from $568 million or $1.82 a year earlier.

Revenue rose 8% to $9.15 billion for the quarter ended May 31, FedEx said in a statement.

For its full fiscal year, FedEx earned $2.02 billion or $6.48 per share, up from $1.81 billion or $5.83 in the previous fiscal year.

Full-year revenue rose 9% to $35.2 billion.

“The weakened industrial sector is currently limiting demand for transportation services, but we expect the U.S. economy to begin to show modest year-over-year improvement in the late summer to early fall,” said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Frederick Smith.

Fourth-quarter operating income at the less-than-truckload FedEx Freight unit fell 12% to $125 million, while revenue rose 28% to $1.25 billion. Less-than-truckload shipments rose 16% year-over-year due to FedEx’s acquisition of Watkins Motor Lines last year, now rebranded as FedEx National LTL.

Operating income at the FedEx Ground segment jumped 30% to $269 million, while revenue jumped 12% to $1.58 billion.

The FedEx Express segment’s operating income rose 6% to $595 million, while revenue rose 4% to $5.83 billion.

FedEx Kinko’s segment saw its operating income drop 28% to $23 million, while revenue dipped 2% to $532 million.

The company said it expects to earn $1.45 to $1.60 per share in its fiscal first quarter 2008 $7 to $7.40 per share for the full fiscal year, assuming an improvement in the U.S. economy beginning in the late summer or early fall.

FedEx Corp. is ranked No. 2 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers.