The market leader in container liner shipp[ds_preview]ing, Maersk Line, has reported a net loss of 116 mill. $ for the third quarter.
This reflects a sharp decline compared to the corresponding period of 2015, when a profit of 264 mill. $ was reached. For the first nine months of the year, Maersk reported a loss of 230 mill. $ after a profit of 1,5 bn. $ in 2015.
The latest result was affected by continued low freight rates, down 16% y-o-y. As a result, the revenue slipped by 16% or 659 mill. $ to 5.4 bn. $. »Freight rates were however up 5.5% q-o-q, for the first time since Q3 2014. Maersk Line performed strongly on volume and unit cost«, the company said in a statement. According to that, Maersk Line gained market share with a volume growth of 11%, while continuing to improve network utilisation and maintaining unit costs below 2,000 USD/FFE.
More backhaul cargo
»A significant part of the growth was due to more backhaul cargo at lower rates than headhaul. With an increase in fleet capacity of 3.8%, the increase in volumes represented an improvement of network utilisation. The freight rate decline was mainly attributable to decreasing bunker prices of 25%, but was also impacted by the increased backhaul volumes and continued weak market conditions«, the carrier added.
Despite the bad business environment, Maersk Line said to have generated a positive free cash flow of USD 192m (USD 159m). ROIC was negative 2.3% (positive 5.2%). The result was favourably impacted by various positive tax developments.
For the full year 2016, Maersk Line still expects an underlying result significantly below last year (USD 1.3bn) and specifies an expected negative underlying result for 2016. Maersk Line expects global demand for seaborne container transportation to increase by around 2% in line with previous expectation of 1-3%.
