Shipping group Maersk reported better-than-expected third-quarter results on Thursday but warned falling freight rates were set to cause losses in its ocean container business during the fourth quarter, sending its shares lower.
Maersk, considered a barometer of global trade, reported robust container demand, particularly driven by exports from China, despite concerns about the dampening effect of tariffs deployed by the U.S. administration in its push to rewrite the world economic order. The Danish shipping and logistics group, however, flagged oversupply concerns in the shipping market as a risk to profitability.
"All the talk about de-globalisation, that is not what is happening now," Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc told reporters, dismissing fears of a major shift in global trade patterns and noting a rise in the number of Chinese companies exporting their goods.
MAERSK CEO FLAGS HIGH DEMAND AND UNCERTAINTY AHEAD
"The big question is what is going to happen in the next three years in shipping. There is a huge order book and huge uncertainty in the market," Clerc said.
Shares in Maersk traded 4% lower at 1057 GMT.
Investors had anticipated a broader upgrade to Maersk's full-year guidance, rather than a narrowed range, said Mikkel Emil Jensen, an analyst at Sydbank.
Maersk raised the lower end of its full-year core profit forecast, now expecting underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) between $9 billion and $9.5 billion, compared with earlier guidance of $8 billion to $9.5 billion.
Global container demand grew between 3% and 5% year-on-year in the third quarter, Maersk said, with the company now anticipating 4% growth in 2025, up from its prior forecast range of 2% to 4% issued in August.
Imports were boosted by Europe, Africa, Latin America, and West Central Asia, while volumes to North America contracted, especially shipments from China to the United States, Maersk said.
Clerc expressed caution about the fourth quarter, saying more new container vessels could further depress freight rates, which fell below Maersk's breakeven level during the third quarter.
"It has nothing to do with demand or our relative competitiveness," Clerc said, noting that the ocean container market was still growing.
Jyske Bank analyst Haider Anjum projected that Maersk's ocean container business will be loss-making in the fourth quarter and the first quarter of 2026.
Third-quarter EBITDA fell 44% year-on-year to $2.69 billion, surpassing analyst estimates of $2.58 billion, while revenue dropped 10% to $14.2 billion, higher than the $13.8 billion forecast.
(Reuters)