AP Moller – Maersk increased EBITDA by eight per cent to $3.8 billion last year saying it had benefited from higher freight rates, efficiencies gained from the integration of continuing operations, and synergies from the acquisition of Hamburg Süd.
“However, margins in continuing operations were challenged and EBITDA was lower than initially expected at the beginning of the year, primarily due to an increase in bunker fuel prices not fully recovered by higher freight rates.”
Revenue in 2018 was $39 billion, up 26 per cent on the year before.
Chief executive Søren Skou said: “In 2018, we made significant progress in implementing our strategy. With the expected listing and demerger of Maersk Drilling in April, the separation of our Energy-related businesses will be almost complete. We have successfully integrated Hamburg Süd, accelerated our digital transformation and come together across sales, customer service, delivery and products as one company with customers at the centre of our attention. We are starting to see growth both in Ocean and non-Ocean segments.
“Although we had a challenging start to 2018, looking at our financial performance, we increased earnings despite significantly higher bunker fuel prices and lower than expected container volume growth in the second half of 2018. However, profitability needs to improve.”
