DE4CC0DE-5FC3-4494-BCBF-4D50B00366B5

Maersk’s Profit Beats Analyst Estimates on Deeper Cost Cuts

By Steve Wynne-Jones
Share this article
Maersk’s Profit Beats Analyst Estimates on Deeper Cost Cuts

A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S’s container line, the world’s largest, reported a bigger-than-expected profit in the second quarter after the unit deepened cost cuts.

Maersk Line said net operating profit after tax dropped 7.3 percent to $507 million, in a statement published on Thursday. That beat the $482 million estimate in a survey conducted by SME. Maersk’s group net income fell to $1.07 billion in the quarter, exceeding the median estimate of $729 million in a Bloomberg survey.

Maersk Line, which transports about 15 percent of the world’s manufactured goods, said costs fell about 13 percent per transported container last quarter. The division kept its full- year forecast amid a 14 percent plunge in freight rates.

“In a quarter impacted by lower average container rates and a lower oil price, the Maersk Group achieved a satisfactory result,” Chief Executive Officer Nils Smedegaard Andersen said in the statement.

The balance sheet “remains strong,” which will enable the company to buy back own shares for about $1 billion, he said.

ADVERTISEMENT

The container industry has since 2009 suffered from over- capacity and freight rate volatility after a slowdown in global trade coincided with a boom in vessel building.

Maersk Line sees 2015 underlying net profit growing from the $2.2 billion reached last year. The group, which also owns oil and drilling operations, kept its full-year forecast for an underlying net profit of about $4 billion.

Bloomberg News, edited by ESM. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.

Get the week's top grocery retail news

The most important stories from European grocery retail direct to your inbox every Thursday

Processing your request...

Thanks! please check your email to confirm your subscription.

By signing up you are agreeing to our terms & conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.