Seaborne Container Transportation News

Maersk management hints at hitting top of 2018 EBITDA range. A.P. Moller-Maersk's move to focus on transport and jettison oil was tested on Friday as the world's largest container shipping firm missed profit forecasts and gave what analysts saw as a conservative outlook. Shipping, which has been hit by years of overcapacity and slow economic growth, saw early signs of a turnaround in early 2017, but freight rates fell in the second half. "I'm still very optimistic on the fundamentals of the global container shipping industry," Chief Executive Soren Skou told Reuters after the quarterly results. Skou, who has staked his future on Maersk as a transport business…

Danish shipping group A.P. Moller Maersk reported an unexpected net loss in the second quarter due to terminal and tanker impairment charges, but said it was upbeat on the container shipping outlook. Maersk also said it expected a $200 million to $300 million bill from a June cyber attack that disrupted its container shipping operations for weeks. The company's net loss stood at $264 million, compared with expectations for a $507 million net profit, according to an average of forecasts in a Reuters poll. The firm reported impairment charges this year of about $700 million in the terminal and tanker business. "I am relatively positive on the outlook for the container shipping industry.

Container shipping fundamentals at best since 2010 - CEO. Denmark's A.P. Moller Maersk gave an upbeat outlook for container shipping on Wednesday, lifting its shares by more than 4.5 percent as investors looked beyond one-off second-quarter charges. Maersk has been hit by low oil prices at its energy arm and sliding prices in its shipping business in recent years due to lacklustre global trade and a glut of available ships for hire. But its chief executive Soren Skou, who has staked his future on Maersk as a transport business, said the container shipping industry is showing signs of recovery this year as freight rates have picked up, while overcapacity is easing as orders for new vessels fall and existing ones are scrapped.

Maersk Line posts loss, but company sees improvement. A.P. Moller-Maersk beat first-quarter net profit forecasts on Thursday, boosted by the energy business it plans to spin off, but also reported signs of improvement at its long-suffering container shipping business. Shares in the Danish conglomerate climbed almost 5 percent after it said a gradual recovery in freight rates should boost earnings at Maersk Line, the world's biggest container shipping business, over the rest of the year. Maersk has been hit by the double blow of low oil prices at its energy arm and sliding prices in its shipping business due to lacklustre global trade and industry overcapacity.

Net operating loss after tax of $2.7 bln means dividend cut. Chairman to step down at end of March. A.P. Moller-Maersk missed fourth-quarter profit expectations on Wednesday as the world's largest shipping company pressed on with changes, taking impairments, slashing its dividend and announcing a new chairman. Hurt by low prices and oversupply in the oil and freight sectors, Maersk announced a major restructuring plan in September. "It was a bad and unsatisfying year," Chief Executive Soren Skou told journalists, adding the result was especially hurt by weak performance at container shipping business Maersk Line. Skou, former boss of Maersk Line, was promoted to group CEO in June.

Fragmented sector chasing alliances to cut costs; Maersk has plenty of cash for deals - CEO. A.P. Moller-Maersk returned to profit at its main container shipping business in the first quarter, putting the cash rich company in a strong position as the struggling industry consolidates. The group's shares were up by 5.6 percent at 1127 GMT on Wednesday after Maersk Line confounded expectations of a loss at the container shipping business as the sector grapples with a downturn brought on by overcapacity. Rates for shipping containers transporting anything from flat-screen TVs to sportswear have been at a loss-making level for more than a year, denting profits and opening the highly fragmented sector to consolidation in an effort to cut costs and build scale.

Danish shipping and offshore energy conglomerate Maersk Group reported its profit at US$ 224 million for the first quarter of 2016, a drop of 86 percent compared to $ 1.6 billion seen in the same period a year earlier. Hit by low oil prices and freight rates, the world's largest shipping company AP Moller-Maersk A/S says revenue fell almost 20 percent from a year earlier to $8.5 billion. Maersk Line, the world’s largest container operator by capacity and traditionally the company’s biggest earner, posted first-quarter underlying earnings of $32 million, having contributed $710 million in the year-earlier quarter. Maersk Line said it…

Container shipping demand at lowest since 2008 crisis; additional capacity supply far outstrips demand. Shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Friday third-quarter profit almost halved and global demand for container transportation this year would grow at a slower pace than previously expected. The Danish company, which operates the largest container shipping business in the world, kept a reduced forecast made two weeks ago for a 2015 underlying profit of $3.4 billion, down from the $4.0 billion previously expected. Maersk has taken a double hit to its businesses -- its oil units have floundered as crude prices halved since last year, while low trade volumes and an overcapacity of vessels have weighed on Maersk Line, the container shipping business.