A P Moeller-Maersk A/S’s container line, the world’s biggest, reported a decline in second-quarter profit as freight rates plunged.
Maersk Line reported a 7.3 percent drop in net operating profit after tax to $507 million, according to a statement published Thursday. Maersk’s group net income fell to $1.07 billion in the quarter, beating the median estimate of $729 million in a Bloomberg survey of 10 analysts.
Maersk Line, which transports about 15 percent of the world’s manufactured goods, said gains from lower fuel costs and higher volumes were dented by a decline in freight rates. The container industry has since 2009 suffered from over-capacity and freight rate volatility after a slowdown in global trade coincided with a vessel building boom.
Maersk Line kept its full-year forecast of an underlying net profit that will exceed 2014’s result of $2.2 billion. The group, which also owns oil and drilling operations, kept its full-year forecast of a underlying net profit of about $4 billion.
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