A pickup in deliveries is helping UPS more than double its profit from a year ago, when Big Brown took a hit from pension-restructuring costs.

United Parcel Service Co. said Friday that net income in the third quarter soared to $1.10 billion, or $1.16 per share.

That's a penny better than analysts were expecting, and it's up from $469 million, or 48 cents per share, a year ago.

UPS says revenue is up 3.4 percent. Spending on compensation and benefits is down 8.1 percent because a year ago UPS took a pension-restructuring charge of $896 million.

The company says it's standing by its forecast of full-year earnings between $4.65 and $4.85 per share. Analysts expect $4.74 per share.