(Reuters) - United Parcel Service Inc N:UPS, the world's biggest courier company, reported a 12 percent fall in quarterly profit due to higher costs related to a colder-than-usual winter the United States.
The company warned that full-year earnings were likely to come in at the lower end of its earlier forecast.
Rival FedEx Corp N:FDX also blamed the harsh weather for weak third-quarter results in March and cut its fiscal-year profit forecast.
"Much of the U.S. economy was negatively affected by the severe weather conditions in the first quarter, resulting in lower UPS operating results versus the prior year," UPS Chief Executive Scott Davis said in a statement on Thursday.
The company's net income fell to $911 million (543 million pounds), or 98 cents per share, in the first quarter ended March 31, from $1.03 billion, or $1.08 per share, a year earlier.
UPS said total operating expenses rose 4 percent to $12.27 billion.
The company had forecast 2014 earnings of $5.05-$5.30 per share in January.
Shares of the Atlanta-based company were down 1.2 percent at $98 in premarket trading. The stock has fallen 6 percent so far this year, in line with the broader Dow Jones U.S. Delivery Services Index N:DJUSAF.
(Reporting by Sweta Singh in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)