The Danish shipping giant Maersk announced on Thursday a significant decline in its net profit in the first quarter, marked by the situation in the Red Sea where attacks by Houthi rebels forced it to no longer sail in the area.
During the first three months of the year, the Scandinavian flagship of container transport, number two in the sector, generated a net profit divided by 13 to 177 million dollars (161.4 million francs) and achieved a figure revenue of $12.35 billion, down 13%, slightly below the Factset consensus ($12.448 billion).
The first quarter “went exactly as we had planned,” assured the group’s CEO, Vincent Clerc, quoted in a press release.
In the maritime transport sector, Maersk’s core business, loaded volumes increased by 7.5% year-on-year, thanks to an increase in demand mainly on the Asia-Europe route, in North America and in Europe. .
The average freight rate, however, fell by 18% year-on-year but increased by 23% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, due to the situation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Since December, attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea have produced a sharp rise in freight rates.
Maersk and many other carriers have decided to interrupt their traffic in this area for an alternative route around the South African Cape of Good Hope, which is about two weeks longer and more expensive.
According to the IMF, maritime container transport through the Red Sea fell by almost 30% year-on-year. Before the conflict, between 12 and 15% of global traffic passed through this axis, according to figures from the European Union.
For Maersk, which welcomes an increasing demand for container transport, the re-routing via the Cape of Good Hope led to an increase in operating costs of 7% compared to the first quarter of 2023.
For the whole of 2024, the group, which will celebrate its 120th anniversary, has revised its forecasts upwards and is now counting on a gross operating profit (EBITDA) of between 4 and 6 billion dollars (between 3.73 and 5 .58 billion euros), compared to a range between 1 and 6 billion dollars previously announced.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / awp / afp
