UPS revenue up amid e-commerce boom

Company reports 2nd quarter profit of $1.4B, rise of 9.1% over 2016.

UPS said it is handling more shipments due to e-commerce, seeing more business in Europe and looking toward growth in China.

The company reported a second-quarter profit of nearly $1.4 billion, up 9.1 percent year-overyear.

UPS said growth in e-commerce is driving increased revenue in its U.S. domestic segment. But closures of brick-andmortar retail stores are slowing growth in business-to-business shipments.

“There are less of these retail stores,” said CEO David Abney. “Whether they will be replaced with others, we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Meanwhile, some shops are getting more small package deliveries for ship-to-store online orders.

Overall, the Sandy Springsbased company’s revenue increased 7.7 percent to nearly $15.8 billion, from $14.6 billion a year earlier.

Europe was the fastest-growing segment for UPS in the second quarter. Competitor FedEx’s TNT Express unit in Europe suffered a cyber-attack in late June that disrupted operations.

Looking to Asia, CEO David Abney said the outlook for China has improved. UPS earlier this year struck a deal for a joint venture with Chinese logistics company SF Holding.

Abney said during an investor conference call that UPS is developing cross-border shipment options for businesses that want to sell to Chinese consumers.

“China represents a great market opportunity for U.S. businesses,” he said.