Maersk Line profit downgrade confirms Drewry’s prediction that the industry downturn would worsen in the third quarter. Will it trigger the action needed to turn things around? According to the maritime analyst, the answer is yes.
“Maersk Line has a long history of leading the container market – from ordering the biggest ships to setting standards for service reliability – so it is good news for the industry that it has decided to try and restore ailing profits by laying up large ships as there is a very high likelihood that others will follow,” said Drewry in its latest Container Insight report.
Last week the Maersk Group announced that it was downgrading its 2015 profit expectation – with a shortfall of US$600 million – due to a worse than expected performance from Maersk Line
Drewry pointed out in its report that in recent years Maersk had weathered dips in the market far better than others, routinely outperforming its peers in the financial stakes. “The Danish carrier’s superior economies of scale have helped it to surpass its peers in terms of operating margins in 24 of the last 26 quarters. But now it feels compelled to say that it too is not immune to the worsening general conditions, which could be interpreted as passing the blame, but nonetheless should serve as the wake-up call for the industry to get its house in order,” said Drewry.
