- Q2 earnings beat
- Raised full year outlook
- Resilient trading outside US
Any worries about stalling global trade caused by tariff uncertainty were blown out of the water after shipping and logistics company A.P Moller-Maersk (MAERSK-B:CPH) smashed second quarter earnings estimates and raised its full year outlook.
The shares sailed to a new 12-month after jumping 5%, taking the year-to-date gain to 32%, comfortably outperforming the 9% advance in the FTSE EuroFirst 300 index.
Copenhagen-based Maersk is the world’s largest shipping and logistics company and viewed as a barometer of global trade, so today’s (7 Aug) upbeat report should allay any residual fears of economic contraction.
CEO Vincent Clerc commented: ‘We have had a strong first half of the year, driven by consistent follow through on our operational improvement plans and the successful launch of the strategic partnership with Hapag-Lloyd.
‘Even with market volatility and historical uncertainty in global trade, demand remained resilient, and we’ve continued to respond with speed and flexibility.’
EARNINGS BEAT AND RAISE
Second quarter sales to the end of June increased by 2.8% to $13.1 billion, beating analysts’ forecasts of $12.6 billion, while EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) rose 7% year-on-year to $2.3 billion, compared with the $1.9 billion expected.
Global container demand increased between 3% and 5% during the quarter, ‘challenging concerns of an immediate collapse in global trade’ following US tariff announcement in April.
Maersk estimated the effective container-weighted import tariff on US imports rose to 24% as of 31 July, up from 5% in 2024.
A contraction in US imports caused by tariffs was more than offset by ‘strong’ growth in imports into other regions including Europe, the company said.
Given the resilience in market demand outside of the US Maersk raised its 2025 guidance for global container market volume growth to a range of 2% to 4% from minus 1% to 4% previously communicated in May.
Underlying EBITDA is now expected to be between $8 billion and $9.5 billion from $6 billion to $9 billion. The company said it expects disruption in the Red Sea to last for the full year.
