A.P. Moeller Profits Fly Orange

A.P. Moeller, operator of the world's leading container line and a big oil producer, posted sharply higher first-half profits on Thursday and said full year profits would improve considerably on 1999. Consolidated operating profit before depreciation rose 54 percent to $910 million and net profit surged 92 percent to 2.63 billion crowns. The results were slightly below forecasts in a Reuters poll of analysts. Moeller's shares -- up some 28 percent in the past four weeks for a 2001 earnings multiple of 20 --first rose but later fell as European oil majors tumbled.