Rough shipping forecast blows shares lower for Moller Maersk
DANISH shipping giant Moller Maersk said yesterday it expects further turbulence in freight volumes and rates for the next few years, sinking its shares by 3.4 per cent.
Maersk said that freight volumes rose 4.1 per cent at its Maersk Line unit last year, but a steeper 7.2 per cent fall in prices and a drop in the firm’s share of its oil production ventures were responsible for a slide in earnings.
“We expect container freight rates to go up and down and over-capacity will continue to 2016,” chief executive Nils Smedegaard Andersen said, adding that group profits are set to be flat this year.
The firm posted a four per cent fall in 2013 revenues to $47.4bn while pre-tax profits fell by the same magnitude to $6.6bn.
Maersk Line shipped 8.8m forty-foot containers in the year and charged an average of $2,684 each. The firm said it maintained its market share during 2013.
The firm’s ports handled 36.3m twenty-foot equivalent units, up three per cent.