by Calculated Risk on 4/08/2008 05:21:00 PM

Press Release: UPS Lowers 1Q 2008 Guidance

Deteriorating U.S. Economic Conditions Restrain Domestic Volume

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UPS (NYSE: UPS) today announced it had lowered its first quarter earnings expectations to $0.86 or $0.87 per diluted share from a previously anticipated range of $0.94-to-0.98.

At UPS’s investor conference on March 12, Chief Financial Officer Kurt Kuehn stated that UPS’s earnings guidance for the quarter would be difficult to achieve if lower volume trends experienced in February continued through March. The U.S. economy has continued to weaken, causing a reduction in domestic package volume and a shift away from premium products. Significantly increased fuel costs in the quarter also contributed to the lower-than-expected results.

Recession.