UPS cargo aircraft are loaded with air containers full of packages bound for their final destination at the UPS Worldport All Points International Hub in Louisville
United Parcel Service cargo aircraft are loaded with air containers full of packages bound for their final destination at the UPS Worldport All Points International Hub during the peak delivery day in Louisville, Kentucky, December 22, 2011. REUTERS

(REUTERS) -- United Parcel Service reported higher quarterly profit after adjusting for a new pension accounting method, and forecast higher 2012 earnings.

The world's largest package delivery company on Tuesday said fourth-quarter net income fell to $725 million, or 74 cents a share, from $1.025 billion, or $1.02 a share, a year ago.

After adjusting for a pension fund accounting change started in the fourth quarter, profit rose to $1.28 a share from $1.06.

UPS said the new accounting method resulted in after-tax charges in 2011 and 2010 of $527 million and $75 million, respectively.

Fourth-quarter revenue rose 6 percent to $14.2 billion, roughly in line with the $14.4 billion expected by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

(Reporting By Lynn Adler; editing by John Wallace)