* Adjusted EPS $1.08 vs. Wall St view $1.05
* Sees record profits in 2011
* Revises 2011 guidance up to $4.12-$4.25 per share
NEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - United Parcel Service, the world's largest package delivery company, reported a quarterly profit that beat estimates and forecast record-high profits in 2011, sending its shares up nearly 3 percent in premarket trading.
The economic bellwether's fourth-quarter adjusted operating profit rose to $1.08 per share, up 44 percent from a year ago and topping the $1.05 per share expected by analysts, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
On a reported basis, operating profit rose to $1.81 billion, or $1.11 a share, from $1.26 billion, or 75 cents a share a year ago.
The 3 cent-per-share difference largely reflected a gain from the sale of a logistics unit.
Revenue rose to $13.42 billion from $12.38 billion.
UPS handles 6 percent of the U.S. GDP and 2 percent of global GDP in its trucks and planes, the company said, so its shipment trends give a tangible picture of consumer demand.
The company revised its 2011 profit forecast upward to a range of $4.12 to $4.35 a share, up 16 percent to 22 percent from its 2010 adjusted results, which would surpass its prior peak earnings set in 2007. (Reporting by Lynn Adler, editing by Maureen Bavdek)