UPS profits from e-commerce boom

The significant shift in buying habits towards online shopping is behind the increases in revenue and profits at UPS, new results have revealed.

In the trading period ending 31 December 2020, the parcel delivery and courier service reported an 8.3% rise in turnover to £1.2bn and pre-tax profit soaring by 26.5% to £118m.

The company said turnover increased due to the move to online shopping driven by the coronavirus pandemic.

“The directors expect to see a continuation of this trend,” UPS said.

Read more

• UPS opens mega hub at East Midlands Airport
• UPS reverses decline in performance in first half of 2020, annual results reveal
• UPS responds to e-commerce boom with customer surcharge

In its global small package business, the company said business-to-business activity had declined due to Covid-19.

However, there was a significant increase in the level of business-to-consumer shipping: “While business-to-business activity began to recover in the latter part of 2020, the company believes that the market shift towards e-commerce will persist, with a continuing high level of residential deliveries that may continue to increase demand, but also drive higher operating costs,” it said.

UPS also said the impact of Brexit will depend on a range of “evolving factors”, which include significant increases in trading costs, border delays and net profitability.

Last month, the company opened its expanded East Midlands Airport (EMA) hub, which has more than doubled the packages it sorts to 22,500 parcels an hour.