Maersk Reports Q2 Loss, Sees Cyber Attack Bill at $200-$300 Mln
Posted by Joseph Keefe
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Danish shipping group A.P. Moller Maersk reported an unexpected net loss in the second quarter due to terminal and tanker impairment charges, but said it was upbeat on the container shipping outlook.
Maersk also said it expected a $200 million to $300 million bill from a June cyber attack that disrupted its container shipping operations for weeks.
The company's net loss stood at $264 million, compared with expectations for a $507 million net profit, according to an average of forecasts in a Reuters poll.
The firm reported impairment charges this year of about $700 million in the terminal and tanker business.
"I am relatively positive on the outlook for the container shipping industry. If you look at our second quarter results, they were driven by higher freight rates alone," Chief Executive Soren Skou told Reuters.
Maersk saw an increase in freight rates of 22 percent in the period compared with a year earlier.
"This is driven by good fundamentals. The global economy is doing well," he said in an interview.
The company maintained its expectation for a rise in global demand for seaborne container transportation at 2 to 4 percent this year, but said it was now expected in the upper range.
Operating profit before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $2.06 billion was in line with the $2.05 billion forecast by analysts.
Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen