A.P. 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 and services, and terminals contributed through improved earnings.
On the back of the strong quarter combined with robust container market demand and the continuation of the Red Sea situation, Maersk upgraded its guidance for 2024 on 21 October and is now expecting full-year underlying earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of US$5.2bn to $5.7bn, up from between $3bn and $5bn.
Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc said the line had supported customers through times of high volatility and low visibility during the quarter.
“We reaffirmed our commitment to profitable growth and operational progress, driving results across all business areas through continued rigorous focus on cost discipline, productivity gains, and efficient asset utilisation,” said Clerc.
“In logistics and services, our focused effort led to steady margin improvements and growth through new customer wins. In terminals, we drove additional improvements, building on already high performance.”
Clerc said the line’s ocean team had responded to recurring network disruptions “with high agility” by leveraging hub terminals and investing in capacity and equipment to mitigate the supply chain impact on customers.
Ocean’s profitability improvement was driven by the higher freight rates as well as positive volume growth, culminating in a 41% increase in revenue.
The decision to re-route vessels south of the Cape of Good Hope was a significant driver of the line’s 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 $2.9bn and margin of 25.5%, the company reported.
Logistics and 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 $200m, an increase of $64m year-on-year, primarily from profitable growth in lead logistics and air, resulting in an EBIT margin of 5.1%.
Terminals continued to deliver strong top-line growth, particularly in North America. Revenue per move reached all-time highs during the quarter driven by higher volumes, improved tariffs, and product mix.
As announced on 21 October, on the back of strong Q3 results combined with strong container market demand and the continuation of the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden situation, Maersk raised its financial guidance for the full year 2024.
It now expects global container market growth for the full year to be around 6% (previously 4-6%).
