|
FedEx delivers on 4Q net
|
 |
June 30, 1999: 9:54 a.m. ET
Shipper cites solid global growth, profit margins for topping estimates
|
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - FDX Corp., the parent of overnight delivery company Federal Express, topped analysts estimates Wednesday by reporting a 29 percent gain in fiscal fourth-quarter earnings sparked by gains in its international operations.
Memphis, Tenn.-based FDX said net income for the quarter ended May 31 rose to $221 million, or 73 cents per diluted share, up from $171 million, or 57 cents, a year earlier.
The latest results exceeded the 71 cents a share consensus of analysts surveyed by First Call Corp., which tracks such results.
Fourth-quarter revenue rose 7 percent to $4.4 billion. International revenue rose 9 percent from the year-earlier quarter to $1 billion.
The increase in international sales wasn't too difficult, one analyst said, because the Asian economic crisis deflated revenue a year earlier. And domestic sales weren't impressive, the analyst said.
"The operating results were up only four percent year over year on the domestic side," said Douglas Rockel, a transportation analyst with Furman Selz, who has a "hold" rating on FDX shares. "The international side's where they picked up the slack."
Anticipation has been widespread on Wall Street that FDX will reap a boon in sales as Internet-based retailing takes hold. That's because FedEx could become a key deliverer of goods bought online.
"I'm still looking for that Internet play," Rockel said. "That's what the hype has been - but the reality is that I haven't seen the numbers yet."
FDX cited cost controls, productivity gains, lower fuel prices and improved service for its higher profit margins.
"Profitability is improving," FDX Chief Financial Officer Alan Graf said in a statement. "By operating each of the FDX subsidiaries independently to compete in distinct market segments, we bring the most appropriate services and cost structure to each customer segment."
Shares of FDX (FDX) fell 2-1/4 to 52-5/8 in New York Stock Exchange trading Wednesday morning. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Federal Express
|
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
External sites are not endorsed by CNNmoney
|
|
|
|
 |
|
