UPS CEO Would Like You to Know That, Unlike FedEx, Big Brown Is Doing Fine in the Amazon Age - Fortune
Not that long ago, Wall Street fretted that tradition-bound United Parcel Service Inc. would lag nimble FedEx Corp., with its fully automated package-sorting hubs, in the race to cash in from surging shipments tied to e-commerce.
It hasn’t turned out that way.
A $20 billion investment spree detailed by UPS Chief Executive Officer David Abney last year, a plan that initially rattled Wall Street, is bearing fruit. Profit margins are improving even as 112-year-old Big Brown copes with swelling volume from voracious online shoppers, who are typically less lucrative to serve than business customers.
“We’re on a real solid trajectory, and I think we’re going to get the benefits of transformation for many years to come,” Abney said in a recent interview at his Atlanta office.
Not that long ago, Wall Street fretted that tradition-bound United Parcel Service Inc. would lag nimble FedEx Corp., with its fully automated package-sorting hubs, in the race to cash in from surging shipments tied to e-commerce.
It hasn’t turned out that way.
A $20 billion investment spree detailed by UPS Chief Executive Officer David Abney last year, a plan that initially rattled Wall Street, is bearing fruit. Profit margins are improving even as 112-year-old Big Brown copes with swelling volume from voracious online shoppers, who are typically less lucrative to serve than business customers.
“We’re on a real solid trajectory, and I think we’re going to get the benefits of transformation for many years to come,” Abney said in a recent interview at his Atlanta office.
