Logistics giant AP Moller-Maersk has reported on a difficult first-half of 2009 that saw the group slip to a loss of US$540m (€379m) from a profit of US$2.4bn (€1.7m) in the corresponding period of 2008.
Revenue at the Danish group fell 25 per cent through the period ended 30 June 2009 to US$22.7bn (€16bn), down from US$30.4bn (€21.4bn) last year.
The group's container shipping activities, including Maersk Line and Safmarine, were hit by a drop in revenues of 30 per cent to US$9.8bn (€€6.9bn), down from US$14bn (€9.8bn) last year. This led to an overall segment loss of US$961m (€675m), from a profit of US$278m (€195m) in 2008.
According to Maersk, A total volume of 3.3m FFE (forty-foot equivalent container units) was transported by the group in the first-half of 2009, down 7 per cent on last year.
'The AP Moller-Maersk Group is still financially strong despite the fact that the economic crisis has developed worse than we anticipated,' said group CEO Nils Andersen. 'The financing of our newbuilding programme is essentially in place and we have engaged in a number of saving initiatives and postponed investments.
'Even more importantly, most of our business units are doing better than the market,' he added. 'We therefore have a strengthened belief that we will emerge as a stronger company on the other side of the crisis.'
Looking ahead to the second-half of the year, Maersk said that results are expected to be similar to those achieved in the first half, although the outlook remains subject to 'considerable uncertainty' due to the development of the global economy.
