Maersk concerns about Covid's recurrence as a drop in output affected the second quarter's sales

According to Maersk shipping line, container demand is expected to gradually improve in the third quarter, but at this stage, development cannot be exact due to the uncertain impact of the pandemic on global economies. .

The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic markedly affected Maersk's business in the second quarter, as container volumes were hit hard by reduced demand. Global container trade fell about 10% in the previous quarter, but Maersk's container throughput fell 16% in sea freight and 14% in gateway ports. The decline in output led to a 6.5% decline in the company's Q2 revenue.

"We, despite the headwinds, continued our track record of improving earnings and free cash flow." said Søren Skou, CEO of A.P. Møller - Maersk.

Earnings before interest, taxes and amortization (EBITDA) increased to USD 1.7 billion and EBITDA margins increased from 14.1% in Q2 2019 to 18.9% this year. In addition, operating cash flow increased to USD 1.9 billion from USD 1.2 billion, while free cash flow increased significantly to USD 1.1 billion from USD 270 million in the same quarter last year.

Although the total fleet of A.P. Møller - Maersk has dropped 57 ships and about 245,000 TEUs since the beginning of the year, the Copenhagen-based carrier remains the world's largest shipping company.

Maersk's fleet consists of 305 owned and 346 charter ships, of which 29 ships with a total capacity of 248,000 TEU, accounting for 6.4% of the fleet, were idle, mainly due to additional refinements and modifications. wattage.

Maersk added in its announcement that the continued focus on improving returns has shown good results with the rate of return on investment (CROIC) and ROIC. Over the past 12 months, there has been a 12.5% ​​improvement from 8.9% on CROIC and 4.7% from 1.4% on ROIC.

"The focus on a strong cost and capital allocation discipline will continue, and more additional cost and structural measures across the business will be taken to offset the negative impact of Covid-19 and fund the next stages of the transformation" the carrier emphasized.

Phaata (Adapted from Container-News)