Package delivery company FedEx Corp said on Wednesday its quarterly profit was hurt by costs related to its pending acquisition of Dutch package firm TNT and settling a legal case over FedEx Ground drivers, but gave a strong earnings forecast that sent its shares up nearly 5 percent.
The Memphis-based company recorded a strong performance during the quarter, despite some problems delivering packages in time for Christmas during its key holiday period.
FedEx reported net income for its fiscal third quarter ending February 29 of $507 million or $1.84 per share, down nearly 20 percent from $628 million or $2.18 a share a year earlier.
Excluding those one-time items, the company reported a profit of $692 million or earnings per share of $2.51. Analysts on average had expected earnings per share on that basis for the quarter of $2.34.
Revenue rose 9 percent to $12.7 billion from $11.7 billion, driven in a large part by a 30 percent jump in revenue at its FedEx Ground unit to $4.41 billion from $3.39 billion a year earlier. FedEx said it expects its full-year fiscal 2016 earnings to fall within a range of $10.70 to $10.90 per share. The company said that forecast was based on an assumption of moderate economic growth and excludes legal issues as well as any TNT-related costs or operating results. Analysts had previously forecast earnings per share of $10.52 for the full year.
The European Commission approved FedEx's 4.4 billion euro ($4.8 billion) bid for TNT in January.