A.P. Moller – Maersk Group produced a net income of US$933 million on revenues of US$14.6 billion during the quarter ended September 30, 2012, compared with year-ago net income of US$371 million on revenues of US$15.3 billion. For the nine months ended September 30, 2012, the Group’s net profit amounted to US$3,073 million, compared with US$3,104 during the same period in 2011.
Maersk Line’s profit for the period was US$498 million, compared with a year-ago loss of US$289million. With an average rate increase of 5.7 per cent to US$3,022/FFE, rates were higher on all main trades. Volumes were unchanged at 2.1million FFE. Head haul volume declined by 15 per cent on the Asia – Europe trade. Average unit costs decreased by 6 per cent due to decreased bunker consumption per FFE and network optimisation. Net earnings per FFE amounted to US$241, compared with a loss of US$124/FFE during the third quarter of 2011. Maersk Line announced rate increases especially for reefer containers, effective January 2013.
“The third quarter result was better than expected, and we delivered good result for the quarter, considering the challenging economic environment. Thanks to our rate initiatives and cost reductions, Maersk Line is back in the black on a year-to-date basis. We are expanding our terminal network in Latin America, Russia and other growth markets and expect our strategic initiatives to support both our returns and earnings stability as we move forward,” said Nils S. Andersen, Group CEO. “Maersk Line has done what it set out to do when we entered the second quarter and will continue their efforts to secure rates at a level where we can achieve a fair return on our investments.”