ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE: ZIM) announced its consolidated results for the three months ended March 31, 2023.
“Following a record year of Adjusted EBITDA and EBIT generation, ZIM’s first quarter results reflected the significant decline in freight rates and weak demand, particularly in the Transpacific trade, that began last year," said Eli Glickman, ZIM President & CEO. "While the near-term outlook for container shipping remains challenging, the proactive steps we took during the preceding highly lucrative market period better position us now to meet these challenges and we believe our differentiated strategy will ultimately deliver sustainable value for shareholders over the long term.”
Glickman added, “With a focus on enhancing our commercial and operational resilience, we adapted our vessel sourcing strategy to improve our cost structure with the addition of fuel-efficient newbuild tonnage that will overhaul our fleet profile, as well as advance our ESG goals. These include ten 15,000 TEU dual-fuel LNG vessels, which are ideally suited for our core Asia to US East Coast service, and 36 smaller, more versatile vessels, 18 of which are also dual-fuel LNG, that will enable ZIM to operate a fleet best suited for our trades and services. At the same time, our strong balance sheet and ample liquidity further make us confident that the Company will operate from a position of strength even amidst current market headwinds.”
Glickman concluded, “We continue to anticipate positive EBIT in 2023 despite macro and industry headwinds. Our expectation is for recovery in demand with inventory restocking to begin in the second half of this year, resulting in an improvement in freight rates. As such, for 2023, we have re-affirmed the guidance we shared earlier in the year of Adjusted EBITDA of between $1.8 billion and $2.2 billion and Adjusted EBIT of between $100 million and $500 million.
