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General
6 Months Ended
Nov. 30, 2014
General [Abstract]  
General

(1) General

 

SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES. These interim financial statements of FedEx Corporation (“FedEx”) have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) instructions for interim financial information, and should be read in conjunction with our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended May 31, 2014 (“Annual Report”). Accordingly, significant accounting policies and other disclosures normally provided have been omitted since such items are disclosed in our Annual Report.

 

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments (including normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly our financial position as of November 30, 2014, the results of our operations for the three- and six-month periods ended November 30, 2014 and 2013 and cash flows for the six-month periods ended November 30, 2014 and 2013. Operating results for the three- and six-month periods ended November 30, 2014 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending May 31, 2015.

 

Except as otherwise specified, references to years indicate our fiscal year ending May 31, 2015 or ended May 31 of the year referenced and comparisons are to the corresponding period of the prior year.

 

BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS. Subsequent to November 30, 2014, FedEx entered into agreements to acquire two businesses, expanding our portfolio in e-commerce and supply chain solutions. On December 15, 2014, we entered into an agreement to acquire GENCO Distribution Systems, Inc., one of the largest third-party logistics providers in North America. This acquisition is expected to be completed in early calendar year 2015, subject to customary closing conditions. The financial results of this business will be included in the FedEx Ground segment from the date of acquisition and are expected to be immaterial to our 2015 results.

 

In addition, on December 16, 2014, FedEx acquired Bongo International, LLC, a leader in cross border enablement technologies and solutions. The financial results of this acquired business will be included in the FedEx Express segment from the date of acquisition and are expected to be immaterial to our 2015 results.

 

EMPLOYEES UNDER COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ARRANGEMENTS. The pilots of FedEx Express, which represent a small number of FedEx Express's total employees, are employed under a collective bargaining agreement. The contract became amendable in March 2013, and the parties are currently in negotiations. In October 2014, FedEx Express formally requested assistance from the National Mediation Board (“NMB”) to mediate the negotiations. The NMB is the U.S. governmental agency that oversees labor agreements for entities covered by the Railway Labor Act of 1926, as amended (“Railway Labor Act”).  The progression of negotiations into the mediation stage has no impact on our operations.  In addition to our pilots at FedEx Express, certain non-U.S. employees are unionized.

 

STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION. We have two types of equity-based compensation: stock options and restricted stock. The key terms of the stock option and restricted stock awards granted under our incentive stock plans and all financial disclosures about these programs are set forth in our Annual Report.

 

Our stock-based compensation expense was $31 million for the three-month period ended November 30, 2014 and $79 million for the six-month period ended November 30, 2014. Our stock-based compensation expense was $26 million for the three-month period ended November 30, 2013 and $71 million for the six-month period ended November 30, 2013. Due to its immateriality, additional disclosures related to stock-based compensation have been excluded from this quarterly report.

 

RECENT ACCOUNTING GUIDANCE. New accounting rules and disclosure requirements can significantly impact our reported results and the comparability of our financial statements. These matters are described in our Annual Report.

 

We believe that no other new accounting guidance was adopted or issued during the first six months of 2015 that is relevant to the readers of our financial statements. However, there are numerous new proposals under development which, if and when enacted, may have a significant impact on our financial reporting.

 

TREASURY SHARES. In September 2014, our Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 15 million shares of common stock. It is expected that the share authorization will primarily be utilized to offset equity compensation dilution over the next several years. During the second quarter of 2015, we repurchased 1.0 million shares of FedEx common stock at an average price of $156 per share for a total of $156 million. As of November 30, 2014, 14 million shares remained under the share repurchase authorization.

 

DIVIDENDS DECLARED PER COMMON SHARE. On November 21, 2014, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share of common stock. The dividend will be paid on January 2, 2015 to stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 12, 2014. Each quarterly dividend payment is subject to review and approval by our Board of Directors, and we evaluate our dividend payment amount on an annual basis at the end of each fiscal year.