Maersk Suffers Heavy Loss
Denmark’s shipping conglomerate AP Moller-Maersk saw its first half profit plunged 87% year-on-year to $342m, impacted mainly by lower container freight rates and oil prices.
The January-June 2016 profit of $342m compared to a much bigger gain of $2.66bn in the same period of last year, MANA correspondent reported.
Revenue for the group fell to $17.4bn from $21.07bn in the year-ago period, while operating expenses decreased by $1.8bn predominantly due to lower bunker prices and focus on cost efficiency.
The group’s core container carrier business under Maersk Line posted a first half loss of $114m as against the profit of $1.22bn in the previous corresponding period.
Maersk Oil made a first half profit of $102m, negatively impacted by lower average oil prices, while Maersk Drilling reported a profit of $386m.
Its other units APM Terminals and APM Shipping Services registered first half profit of $220m and $31m respectively.