Logistics giant AP Møller Mærsk has released its results for the second quarter of the year, with improvements in underlying profit and group revenue for the period.
Underlying profit for the Group was US$1.3bn, up from US$1bn last year when excluding discontinued operations, impairment losses and divestment gains.
The Group’s revenue increased by 2.3 per cent, in part impacted by higher container volumes, higher oil entitlement production at a higher average oil price, partly offset by lower average container freight rates.
Meanwhile, the result for Q2 was positively impacted by the US$2.8bn gain from the sale of the majority share of Dansk Supermarked Group, partly offset by impairments of US$1.7bn on Brazilian oil assets due to disappointing exploration and appraisal results together with increasing project costs.
“The Group achieved a very satisfactory result for first half of 2014 with underlying profit increasing 42 per cent to US$2.4bn, mainly driven by Maersk Line, APM Terminals and Maersk Oil,' said Group CEO Nils Andersen.
'As result of the good progress in delivering on our Group priorities and the solid financial performance across the Group, which has been achieved in challenging markets, we upgrade the outlook for the Group result to be around US$4.5bn for 2014,' he added. 'Due to the current strong financial situation, the Board has decided to buy back shares of US$1bn within the coming 12 months.”
Maersk Line made a profit of US$ 547m, up from US$439m, despite 2.7 per cent lower total revenue per FFE.
