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Telecomunicaciones y tecnología

UPS beats Street but saw sharp slowdown


    SCHENECTADY, New York (Reuters) - United Parcel Service Inc , the world's largest package delivery company, reported a 9.9 percent drop in profit that was milder than Wall Street had feared, though the company said it experienced a significant slowdown as the quarter came to an end.

    UPS (UPS.NY) known for its brown delivery trucks, said on Thursday it expects profit per share for the year to come in "toward the lower end" of the $3.50 to $3.70 forecast it set in July.

    Third-quarter net income came to $970 million, or 96 cents a diluted share, compared with $1.08 billion, or $1.02 a share, a year earlier.

    Wall Street analysts had on average looked for 89 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

    Revenue was up 7.4 percent.

    Like its main rival FedEx Corp , which last month reported a 22 percent drop in quarterly profit, UPS has been hit this year by high fuel prices and a slowing economy. Both companies are considered bellwethers, on the premise that consumers and businesses ship more packages in good times.

    So far this year, UPS shares are down about 34 percent, a steeper drop than the 21 percent slide of the Dow Jones transportation index .

    (Reporting by Scott Malone, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)