WASHINGTON >> A strong holiday shipping season and a couple of favorable economic situations temporarily turned around the financial fortunes of the Postal Service, officials said Tuesday.
The post office reported a $307 million profit between October and December compared with a $754 million loss in the year-earlier period. That was in part because of increases in holiday shipping during the first quarter of the fiscal year, which begins in October.
“Shipping and package revenue grew 13.5 percent over the same period last year and was particularly strong during the holiday shipping season,” Postmaster General and CEO Megan J. Brennan said.
But postal officials warned that without favorable interest rate changes and a postal surcharge that will expire in April, they would have had a net loss of about $700 million in the first quarter.
Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett said the service is still seeking relief from the mandate to “pre-fund” retiree health benefits. Legislation in 2006 required the Postal Service to fund 75 years’ worth of retiree health benefits, which neither the government nor private companies is required to do.
Coke volume up but diet soda fizzles
ATLANTA >> Coca-Cola’s global soda volume rose in the fourth quarter, even as Diet Coke continued to suffer declines.
The world’s largest beverage maker said Tuesday that worldwide unit case volume for soda, which reflects average daily sales, rose 2 percent in the final three months of last year.
Coke executives have said Diet Coke’s decline has been largely a U.S. issue. That trend continued in the quarter, with the company registering a 5 percent drop in Diet Coke sales volume for the region while regular Coke was flat.
For the final three months of the year, Coke earned $1.24 billion, or 28 cents a share, compared with $770 million, or 17 cents a share, in the year-ago period. After excluding one-time items, it earned 38 cents per share. That was a penny more than Wall Street expected, according to Zacks Investment Research.
Total revenue fell 8 percent to $10 billion in the period, better than the $9.86 billion analysts expected.
CVS’ net up 13% amid acquisitions
Woonsocket, R.I. >> Acquisitions helped CVS Health’s fourth-quarter profit climb 13 percent, and leaders of the drugstore operator and pharmacy benefits manager said Tuesday that they expect to reap more gains from their deal making later this year.
The company, parent of Longs Drugs, spent more than $10 billion to buy pharmaceutical distributor Omnicare in a deal that closed last summer and about $1.9 billion to take over the pharmacy and clinic business of retail giant Target Corp.
The Omnicare deal gave CVS Health national reach in dispensing prescription drugs to assisted-living and skilled-nursing homes, long-term care facilities, hospitals and other care providers.
The gains from Target promise to do the same on the retail side, pushing East Coast-centric CVS Health’s presence into several markets west of the Mississippi.
Overall, CVS Health earned nearly $1.5 billion in the final quarter of 2015. That’s up from $1.32 billion in the last quarter of 2014. Revenue climbed 11 percent to $41.15 billion.
Beyonce song boosts Red Lobster sales
NEW YORK >> Red Lobster says it’s feeling the “Beyonce Bounce.”
The seafood chain says sales surged 33 percent Sunday, compared with last year’s Super Bowl Sunday. The increase came after the release of “Formation,” in which Beyonce says she took a man to Red Lobster after sex.
Other factors also likely helped. Red Lobster notes this year’s winter wasn’t as harsh, meaning people were likely more willing to head out to restaurants. And the chain is running a “Lobsterfest” promotion that it didn’t last year.
The pop culture spotlight from Beyonce is nevertheless a welcome change for Red Lobster, which was sold by Darden Restaurants in July 2014 after it suffered ongoing declines in sales.
The chain, now privately held by investment firm Golden Gate Capital, says it has posted sales gains every quarter since the separation.
Red Lobster, based in Orlando, Fla., has more than 700 locations in the U.S. and Canada.
On the Move
Craig Takahata has joined Group 70 International as a principal. Takahata is an architect who has led design projects in Asia, the United States, the Pacific Rim, the Bahamas and the Middle East.
He worked at the design firm WATG for 17 years, serving as vice president and managing director. He returns to G70, where he worked at a variety of resort projects from 1994 to 1999.
Group 70 International has also announced the following hires:
>> Zoe Albean is an interior designer. She earned her Bachelor of Science in interior design with a minor in sustainability in 2015 from Arizona State University.
>> Lakiesha White is an interior designer. A former emergency nurse technician in North Carolina, she earned her bachelor’s degree in fine arts in interior architecture at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
>> Scott Culver is a civil designer with 14 years of experience in the industry. He has worked in single and multifamily residential developments as well as resort and hotel design and agricultural subdivisions.
>> Jack Robinson is a civil designer. He has been working in the civil design field since 1997 and has 16 years of experience in commercial, residential and public works projects.
