The UPS board of directors has increased the quarterly dividend by nearly 18% from 28-cents per share to 33-cents per share on all outstanding Class A and Class B shares.

The dividend is payable March 9, 2005, to shareholders of record on Feb. 22, 2005.
The board also announced it had appointed John Beystehner, UPS’s chief operating officer and president of UPS Airlines, to serve as a director. Beystehner will replace UPS Senior Vice President Cal Darden who steps down from the board on March 31. Beystehner then will stand for election to a regular one-year term at the annual shareowners’ meeting in May.
Darden, the senior vice president for U.S. operations, is retiring next month after a 33-year career. He has directed U.S. operations for the past seven years and has been a member of the UPS board of directors since 2001.
With the naming of Beystehner and the retirement of Darden, the UPS board will continue to have three active employees serving as directors. In addition to Eskew and Beystehner, the board includes Lea Soupata, the senior vice president for Human Resources.
UPS said it believes that as a result of its strong culture of employee ownership, it has always been in the best interest of shareowners to include representation on the board from its senior leadership. More than 45% of UPS’s outstanding shares are held by UPS employees and retirees.