Maersk forecasts that 2021 profits could double the target

A container ship of Maersk Line

 
More evidence of the bumper profits that global carriers will report this year comes from A.P. Møller - Maersk, Copenhagen-based, the owner of the world's largest container shipping line, has increased significantly compared to its year-round target.

With spot and contract rates at record levels for most of the year to date, Maersk's preliminary first-quarter numbers were phenomenal with USD 12.4 billion in sales and  USD 3.1 billion in net profit achieved in the first three months of 2021.

“The continued strong performance is mainly driven by the continuation of the exceptional market situation with surging demand leading to bottlenecks in the supply chain and equipment (containers) shortage,” the Danish carrier stated in a trading update.

Volume transported by sea increased by 5.7% and average freight rate increased by 35% in Q1 / 2021 over the same period in 2020.

Maersk said that they expect special market conditions to continue in the fourth quarter, Maersk now predicts its full-year net profit could be more than double its previous estimate, reaching around USD 9 billion to USD 11 billion.

Maersk also said that the global market demand growth outlook for the whole year 2021 has been adjusted to 5-7% from 3-5% previously, mainly due to the volume of goods exported from China to the US. The company will officially announce Q1 results on May 5.

The sensational start of the year in carrier fortunes was well illustrated earlier when COSCO's subsidiary, OOCL, released Q1 results. The shipping line OOCL reported a 23.8% increase in total volume over the same period last year, sales increasing a staggering 96% to USD 3.02 billion over a three-month period. OOCL's overall average revenue per TEU was up 58.3% from the first quarter of last year.

Source: Phaata (Adapted from Splash247)
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