UPS holds forecast despite retailer gloom UPS, the express parcel delivery service, announced third-quarter earnings more than doubled and reiterated its forecast for full-year results well above last year's, betting that growing ecommerce volumes would outweigh economic concerns. The company - which is closely watched for signs of the health of US and global business - announced net income rose to $1.1bn from $469m, on revenue up 3.4 per cent to $13.5bn. Profit would have been 6.7 per cent up from last year excluding the net effect on 2012"s figures of a $559m one-off charge to restructure some US employees" pension liabilities. Diluted earnings per share rose from 48 cents to $1.17. Excluding the pensions charge, they would have grown 9.4 per cent. The US domestic package business performed particularly strongly, benefiting from the continuing growth of ground services, which are winning out as customers switch from more expensive air delivery. Domestic ground revenue increased 6.6 per cent to $5.87bn, while US domestic package revenue overall grew 5 per cent to $8.25bn. Operating profits for the business, excluding the pension write-off, rose 16 per cent to $1.19bn. Kurt Kuehn, chief financial officer, said the third-quarter results had been strong and in line with the company's expectations. While some retailers were expressing caution about the holidays, he added, they still expected robust sales online - which increases package volume for UPS. "There has been this continual trend of more and more shopping done online," Mr Kuehn said. What we've seen is that UPS gets a significant amount of that during the holidays. So even a modest overall spend in the retail sector can be magnified into a stronger peak season for us. The late timing of this year's Thanksgiving in the US meant the peak holiday shipping season would be "compressed," which presented some "operating challenges," he added. "Nonetheless, we are confident in UPS's ability to successfully deliver the holidays," he said. Mr Kuehn reiterated the company's guidance for the full year of diluted earnings per share adjusted for items like the one-off pension write-off of $4.65 to $4.85, between 3 and 7 per cent up on last year. The company had cut its forecasts in July, citing economic worries. Both UPS and FedEx, its main rival, have been grappling with a drift by customers away from high-margin guaranteed next-day delivery air express parcels towards lower-cost services, including truck, rail and sea shipping. In international packages, the company provided further evidence that Europe is starting to recover, saying daily export shipments from Europe were 10 per cent up on the same period last year, while shipments from Asia were flat. Operating profits for the business, however, fell 7.1 per cent because of currency and fuel price movements to $417m, on revenue up 2.5 per cent to $3.02bn. Supply chain and freight operating profits grew 6.9 per cent to $201m, on revenue down 0.7 per cent to $2.25bn. In morning trading, the shares rose 0.4 per cent to $94.84.