Container line loses more money in first three months than in the whole of 2011
David Badger
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Maersk Line losses in Q1 this year totalled almost $600 million, more than the world’s biggest container line lost in the whole of 2011, it was revealed today.
The line’s poor result wiped out underlying first-quarter profits for Denmark’s AP Møller-Maersk group, which released its figures this morning.
APMM’s core container shipping operation posted a $599 million net operating loss after tax, on revenue up 7% to $6.3 billion.
This compares with a $424 million profit in Q1 2011. But as the year went on, rates on the main tradelanes plunged and Maersk Line ended the year with a loss of $537 million.
Rates earned per container in Q1 on the key Asia to Europe route – which accounted for 37% of the line’s volumes – were down 21% on Q1 2011, although volumes rose 22%. Rates on Latin American services fell 8% on volumes up 23%, while on the transpacific, rates fell 5% on volumes up 21%.
The line has cut capacity on the Asia to Europe trades by around 9% since the start of the year, and imposed general rate increases that have been “almost fully accepted”, said the company.
Maersk said it expected a “negative up to neutral result in 2012”, based on the assumption that its rate restoration programme will continue.
It said: “The outlook is very sensitive towards changes in the market balance. Global demand for seaborne containers is expected to increase by 4-6% in 2012, with lower increases on the Asia-Europe trades, but higher increases on the north-south trades.”
Overall, the APMM group reported net profits up 1% at $1.18 billion on revenue down 1% to $14.3 billion, compared with the same quarter of 2011.
However, the profit was the result of a $900 million exceptional gain after settlement of a tax dispute in Algeria and $324 million in investment gains.
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