Maersk’s Profit Tumbles on Weak Freight Rates, Low Oil Prices

Jon Economy, Energy, Market Commentary

Moller-Maersk A/S’s third-quarter profit plunged 43% as weak freight rates and low oil prices continued to batter the Danish shipping-and-oil company’s results.
Maersk’s shares sank more than 7% in Copenhagen on Wednesday. Investors fear that the shipping industry – the company’s biggest market – remains caught in its deepest down-cycle in 30 years.
Maersk Line, the company’s shipping unit and the world’s biggest container operator, swung to a loss of $122 million, from a $243 million profit a year ago.
Net profit for the company dropped to $429 million from $755 million a year earlier, as revenue fell 9% to $9.18 billion. Analysts had forecast a profit of $496 million on revenue of $9.39 billion, according to FactSet estimates.

This post was published at Wall Street Journal