FedEx Irish pre-tax profits fell by 15% in a year 

Profits at FedEx Express Ireland declined after revenues fell by 8%, from €70.9m to €65.05m, in the 12 months to the end of May

FedEx Express Ireland's pre-tax profits fell 15% to €4.1m. One of its chief competitors, United Parcel Service of Ireland (UPS) saw a 73% decrease to €1.74m in its pre-tax profits. File picture: Jason Clarke

Pre-tax profits at the Irish arm of express delivery firm FedEx this year declined by 15% to €4.1m.

New accounts filed by FedEx Express Ireland Ltd show that the profits at the firm declined after revenues decreased by 8%, from €70.9m to €65.05m, in the 12 months to the end of May this year.

The directors say turnover decreased “due to decreased yield during the year”.

Numbers employed by the firm this year increased from 266 to 277, as staff costs increased by €3m to €17.19m — that included share-based payments of €386,488.

The company operates a global data centre in Dublin for the FedEx Group.

The firm’s profits take account of non-cash depreciation costs of €12m and operating lease expenses of €3m.

At the end of May, the company had shareholder funds of €82m.

UPS profits also fell, by 73%

In a separate account for competitors in the sector, United Parcel Service of Ireland Ltd show that it recorded pre-tax profits of €1.74m which was a 73% decrease on the pre-tax profits of €6.4m recorded in 2022.

The chief factor behind the decrease in profits was €2.5m in dividends received from unlisted investments in 2023 compares to €8m under that heading in 2022.

Revenues at the company declined by 5% from €123.4m to €117.15m.

The directors state that UPS Ireland improved its gross margin by 2.49% in comparison to 2022 by revenue mapping lower margin customers while identifying additional opportunities to make cost efficiencies.

They add that further, the company reported an improvement in its operating margin by 0.51% achieved by effective management of expenditure in the year.

The directors state that the “company expects to continue to grow and recover its operating margin in the near future”.

Aggregate revenues of big seven delivery firms fell 1%

A breakdown of the company’s revenues show that €31.26m was generated in Ireland, €47.9m in Europe, and €37.97m in ‘rest of world’. 

The profit last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €906,888 and operating lease costs of €1.03m. Numbers employed at the company last year decreased from 374 to 319 and wages costs declined from €16.1m to €15.55m.

Shareholder funds increased from €37.38m to €38.79m that included accumulated profits of €5.26m.

A new report by the Commission for Communications Regulation shows that aggregate revenues in 2023 for the seven main parcel delivery service providers that include UPS and FedEx totalled €867.4m which was a decrease of 1% on 2022.

The report states that 43% of the revenue share was for domestic parcel delivery in 2023 where 140.73m parcels were delivered by the seven service providers across all segments.