INTERNATIONAL, NON-PACKAGE DRIVES UPS FIRST-QUARTER INCOME JUMP

INTERNATIONAL, NON-PACKAGE DRIVES UPS FIRST-QUARTER INCOME JUMP    United Parcel Service, the Atlanta-based provider of package delivery and supply chain services, said Tuesday its first-quarter net income jumped 24.4 percent to $611 million, driven by growth in international and non-package businesses.
   Excluding a $72-million non-recurring charge in 2002 for adopting new accounting principles, net income rose 8.5 percent.
   Consolidated operating profit was flat, at $945 million, while revenue rose 5.8 percent to $8.02 billion.
   Operating profit for the international package segment more than quadrupled to $134 million, as export volumes rose 10.3 percent and total volume improved 3.3 percent to 1.25 billion packages. UPS said it achieved volume gains of 16 percent in Asia and 11 percent in Europe. Revenue climbed 23.5 percent to $1.30 billion.
   Operating profit for the non-package sector, which includes UPS Supply Chain Solutions, nearly doubled to $107 million as revenues improved 11.4 percent to $693 million. UPS Supply Chain Solutions revenue was up 8.7 percent to $500 million.
   UPS's U.S. domestic segment, however, saw first-quarter operating profit fall 18.3 percent to $704 million, as revenue rose 2.0 percent to $6.02 billion. U.S. domestic volume was off 1.2 percent to 11.86 billion packages.
   “Approximately one-half of the volume decline was attributable to the effects of bad weather in February,” UPS said in a statement.
   UPS expects domestic package volume to increase 1 to 2 percent over the second quarter of 2002, while international growth trends should continue, as well as benefits from 'synergies being created by the integration of our UPS Supply Chain Solutions organization,' said Scott Davis, UPS chief financial officer.