UPS posts 4Q profit of $1.2B after lowering expectations due to snarled holiday deliveries

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In this Jan. 28, 2014 photo, a UPS driver returns to his truck after making a delivery in Mt. Lebanon, Pa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Gene J. Puskar

ATLANTA – UPS says its earned $1.2 billion in the fourth-quarter but a last-minute surge in holiday shipments drove up costs and hurt results.

United Parcel Service Co. reports that it earned $1.25 per share in the final three months of 2103, compared with adjusted profit of $1.32 per share a year earlier.

The company announced two weeks ago that earnings would fall short of expectations because of higher costs to handle a crush of holiday shipments that crested several days later than the company expected.

UPS had to hire an extra 30,000 seasonal workers to handle the rush. It says bad weather in December was also a factor.

The company said Thursday that it expects full-year 2014 adjusted earnings between $5.05 and $5.30 per share. Analysts forecast $5.29 per share.

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