THE AP Moller group last week issued its annual report for 2007, showing that revenue from its container shipping and related activities showed a slim increase – to US$27.67-million from US$25.27-m in 2006. Profit after tax for the year, however, went into the black – recorded as US$217-m from a US$568-m loss in the previous year. Cash flow from operating activities was also up – at US$1.78-m from US$273-m. According to the report, Maersk Line reduced capacity on the nonprofitable Transpacific routes and suffered a volume decrease on the trades from Asia to North America of 17% compared to 2006. Overall, Maersk Line grew on the other trades – with the important market from Asia to Europe showing volume growth of 12%, and growth on the Africa trades of 15%. In total, the group’s two shipping lines, Maersk Line and Safmarine, achieved a volume increase of 2% to 6.8-m forty-foot equivalent units.
