FedEx Earnings

FedEx Profit Hit by Global Downturn, Outlook Dim

• Package delivery giant and U.S. economic bellwether FedEx reported a 75 percent drop in profit due to the global recession, gave a low quarterly outlook and said it was taking fresh actions to cut costs.
  
  Our financial performance was sharply lower during the quarter due to the global recession," Chief Executive Fred Smith said in a statement Thursday. "While we are gaining market share in all of our transportation segments, the downturn in our industry and the severity and expected duration of the recession require that we take additional actions."
  
  The Memphis-based company reported net income for its fiscal third quarter, ended Feb. 28, of $97 million, or 31 cents a share, down from $393 million, or $1.26 a share, a year earlier.
  
  Analysts had expected 46 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.
  
  "FedEx's results are not much of a surprise given the current environment," said Dan Ortwerth, a research analyst at Edward Jones. "But this is a wake-up call for us that things are not going to get better any time soon."
  
  "It's a fairly clear indication that the recent stock market rally better have a strong foundation than merely a positive near-term outlook," he added......

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