UPS said its net profit soared 33 per cent in the first quarter on broad earnings gains across all its business segments giving further optimism that a full-blown economic recovery is in progress.

“With global economies showing signs of recovery and UPS’ strong start to 2010, we are optimistic about this year and the future,” UPS chairman and CEO Scott Davis said.

Overall, UPS showed a US$533 million net profit in the quarter, up from $401 million in the first three months a year ago, the low point of the global economic downturn, with the operating profit ballooning 45.1 per cent to $1.04 billion. Revenue increased seven per cent to $11.7 billion.

The healthy results were attributed to growth in the international package and supply chain businesses, yield improvement and increased operating leverage resulted in margin expansion in all business segments.

In the Asia Pacific region, UPS in Malaysia and Hong Kong had the strongest growth compared to the first quarter of 2009. Export volumes have increased more than 50 per cent in Malaysia and more than 35 per cent in Hong Kong, while South Korea saw growth of more than 25 per cent and Singapore nearly 25 per cent.

“All major regions of the world experienced export volume improvements, and Asia led the way with over 20 per cent gains when compared with the same period last year,” said Derek Woodward, president, UPS Asia Pacific.

“During the quarter we also saw a promising volume jump of nearly 40 per cent in our Asia-to-Europe trade lanes. This is an indication that economic recovery is well underway. The rest of 2010 will be exciting for UPS as global business picks up and we expect increasing momentum in intra-Asian trade.”

During the quarter, UPS began operating its new intra-Asia air hub in Shenzhen, China, slashing at least a day off shipment time-in-transit.