A surge in demand for goods like furniture and exercise equipment from locked-down consumers has sparked a jump in shipping rates, boosting profits for Danish freight giant Maersk, the company said on Wednesday.
Yet shares in the world’s largest container shipping line fell as much as 8% as it missed analysts’ lofty forecasts for the end of last year and gave more cautious guidance for 2021 than anticipated.
Maersk’s ocean shipping business, its largest division, “performed at record level in the quarter as a consequence of the strong rebound of demand,” CEO Soren Skou said in a statement.
Helped by record high freight rates and low fuel prices, fourth-quarter earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) leapt 85% to $2.71 billion from a year earlier. However, that was below the $3.06 billion forecast by analysts in a poll gathered by the company.
-REUTERS