Ocean’s profitability improvement was driven by higher freight rates
AP Moller – Maersk (Maersk) continued its strong business performance in the third quarter. Maersk reported growth across its businesses and financial results significantly above those of the previous year, primarily driven by Ocean, while both Logistics & Services and Terminals also contributed through improved earnings.
“This quarter, we once again supported our customers through times of high volatility and low visibility. Our Ocean team responded to the recurring network disruptions with high agility by leveraging our hub terminals and investing in capacity and equipment to mitigate the supply chain impact on our customers while optimising unit costs,” remarked Vincent Clerc, CEO at Maersk.
Ocean’s profitability improvement was driven by higher freight rates as well as positive volume growth, culminating in a 41% increase in revenue. The network re-routing south of the Cape of Good Hope remained a significant driver of our cost base, impacting bunker consumption and overall operating costs. These cost pressures were largely offset by efficient operational execution, resulting in an EBIT increase of US$ 2.9bn and a margin of 25.5%.
Logistics & Services delivered a strong third quarter with revenue growth of 11% year-on-year and 7.2% sequentially due to increased volumes across most products. Profitability continued its recovery, landing at an EBIT of US$ 200mn, an increase of US$ 64mn year-on-year, primarily from profitable growth in Lead Logistics and Air, resulting in an EBIT margin of 5.1%.
