A.P. Moller – Maersk reported an increase in revenue of USD 294m to USD 19.2bn (USD 18.9bn) in the first six months 2019 compared to the same quarter last year. EBITDA increased by 24% to USD 2.6bn (USD 2.1bn), mainly due to Ocean increasing by 32% to USD 2.0bn (USD 1.5bn), positively impacted by higher freight rates and a reduction in operating cost.
Ocean reported a revenue increase of 2.3% to USD 14.1bn (USD 13.8bn), mainly due to higher freight rates. Other revenue amounted to USD 1.7bn (USD 1.6bn) due to increases in slot sales related to vessel sharing agreements. The revenue was negatively impacted by the developments in foreign exchange rates. EBITDA increased by 32% to USD 2.0bn (USD 1.5bn) supported by the synergies from the integration of the Hamburg Süd network.
The volumes in H1 2019 were 0.3% or 22.000 FFE lower than the same period in 2018 while the average freight rate increased by 2.7%, mainly driving the revenue increase of USD 317m. The operating costs were 1.3% or USD 160m lower, mainly driven by lower network and bunker costs despite a 9.0% increase in the average bunker price. The synergies
with Hamburg Süd affected particularly the network costs.
The buying process for the ocean products got simpler during Q2 for customers with the new Maersk Spot online product, which allows customers to move their cargo in a much simpler and more reliable way providing increased sailing visibility and loading guarantee at a fixed price upfront.
The preparation for the new low-sulphur fuel regulations starting 1 January 2020 (IMO 2020) continues, and the first vessel is currently testing the scrubber solution to prepare for more retrofitting of vessels in the coming quarters.
During the first half of 2019, A. P. Moller – Maersk formed one sales organisation. Its focus is now on giving customers an integrated experience and offering them even more products, thus improving the financial results across the business and accelerating the transformation.
A.P. Moller – Maersk is an integrated container logistics company working to connect and simplify its customers’ supply chains. As the global leader in shipping services, the company operates in 130 countries and employs roughly 70,000 people.
