New York: The incoming head of United Parcel Service Inc said the world’s largest parcel delivery company will continue investing to build capacity in emerging markets and to expand its services, especially in healthcare, its fastest-growing segment after e-commerce.
Chief Operating Officer David Abney, 58, named on Friday to succeed CEO Scott Davis on September 1, also said the company would make acquisitions to build its capabilities overseas, and didn’t rule out large deals. Expansion in emerging markets is “our number one priority,” Abney said.
Trade among emerging markets is growing rapidly and UPS expects that eventually 95 percent of consumers will be outside the United States. “We’re going to continue to focus on making those (emerging market) investments,” Abney said. “Growing internationally and diversifying our customer base are extremely important to us.”
Davis and Abney said Davis’s retirement and succession planning had been in the works for several years, signaling no abrupt strategy changes for the Atlanta-based company, which reported $55.4bn in revenue last year.
Even as it builds international capacity, especially in Asia and Latin America, the company’s international package revenue has remained steady at just over $12bn since 2011. Capital expenditures were about $2bn last year. Rising demand for drugs and medical devices will create a large revenue opportunity for UPS, as aging populations and rising income fuel demand for home delivery of healthcare products. Reuters
