ATLANTA (AP) - A monster holiday season with more Americans shipping gifts fueled UPS profits during the fourth quarter.

Operating profit grew 6.3 percent, the company said Thursday, pushing net income up to $453 million, or 52 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were $1.94 per share, or 3 cents better than expected, according to a survey by Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue was $19.85 billion, a little short of projections.

UPS Inc. expects full-year earnings in the range of $7.45 to $7.75 per share.

_____

Portions of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on UPS at https://www.zacks.com/ap/UPS