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April 25 (Reuters) - United Parcel Service Inc on Tuesday reported a fall in first-quarter profit, as the freight bellwether grappled with softening e-commerce demand due to economic uncertainties.
The global shipping downturn has squeezed margins for most operators in the sector as the COVID-19 pandemic-driven e-commerce bubble deflates and shoppers wrestle with soaring inflation.
Delivery firms were left with a bloated delivery capacity after online sales that had peaked during the pandemic started to fizzle as consumers also returned to in-store shopping.
However, the world's largest parcel delivery firm has benefited in recent quarters from a strong focus on moving high-margin parcels, coupled with measures to control costs.
On Tuesday, the company posted an adjusted profit of $2.20 per share for the quarter through March, compared with $3.05 a year earlier.
Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $2.21 per share, according to Refinitiv. It was not immediately clear if the figures were comparable.
(Reporting by Priyamvada C in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
