FedEx said it expects business conditions to further weaken in the current second quarter, which runs through November. While global revenue this quarter is likely to be flat compared to a year earlier, FedEx’s earnings are expected to plunge more than 40%. Analysts had been forecasting a gain in profit.
“I think so,” he responded. “These numbers, they don’t portend very well.”
He said FedEx is seeing a decline in the volume of freight it is handling in every region around the world. While he said US consumers are somewhat protected by the strength of the dollar, which is increasing their purchasing power, but he said FedEx is seeing a slowdown in Americans’ spending as well.
The company said it is responding by reducing flights and temporarily parking aircraft, trimming hours for its staff, delaying some hiring plans and closing 90 FedEx Office locations as well as five corporate offices. It is also cutting $500 million from its capital expenditure budget for its fiscal year, which runs through May of 2023, trimming that spending to $6.3 billion.
“We’re going fully into cost-management mode,” he told CNBC.
While it gave the sharply lowered guidance for the current quarter, FedEx said it was withdrawing its full-year guidance issued in June due to the “continued volatile operating environment.
FedEx Ground service, which is the primary way the company handles deliveries of online purchases made by US consumers, missed its sales target by $300 million.
FedEx insists it will work with contractors who are having problems. It has sued the former contractor who has been the most vocal critic of the company.
“We recognize that current economic conditions are posing new challenges,” FedEx Ground said in a statement last month. “We remain committed to working with service provider businesses individually to address the challenges specific to their situation. Our goal is to enable success for both FedEx Ground and service providers.”
About 1,000 of the 6,000 contractors who work for FedEx have joined a trade association to lobby the company for better compensation.
A survey conducted by the association released this week found 54% saying their business with FedEx was losing money, 35% saying it was breaking even, and only 11% saying it was profitable. The association said the survey reached 1,200 contractors working for the company or who left the company within the last 12 months.
