The A. P. Møller-Mærsk has surely left the recession behind – the group posts a net profit of USD 4,2 billion for the first nine months of 2010, compared to a loss of 0.7 billion the corresponding period last year. The revenue increases by 17 per cent to 41.4 billion. The group is now expecting a full-year result around USD 5 billion, up from the USD 4 billion expected in the half-year interim report.
”The improvement is first and foremost due to higher freight rates for the group’s container business and additional efficiency improvements”, the January–September report states.
The container division (Maersk Line) is the group’s steam engine with a profit of USD 2.2 billion, compared to a loss of 1.6 billion last year. The result was positively affected by an increase in average freight rates of 34 per cent and an increase in transported volumes of 7 per cent. The APM Terminals’ segment result was USD 668 million (USD 340 million). The result for the oil and gas activities was USD 1.3 billion, compared to 958 the corresponding period last year.
The Maersk Tankers is still struggling, the company posts a loss of USD 103 million, compared to a loss of USD 193 million last year)