COPENHAGEN 鈥� The world鈥檚 biggest shipping company, Denmark鈥檚 A.P. Moller-Maersk, on Wednesday reported a sharp rise in earnings for the fourth quarter, when global demand for goods rebounded from an earlier slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Copenhagen-based company reported a net profit of $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter of last year from a loss of $72 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 16% to $11.3 billion.
CEO Soeren Skou said the quarter was marked 鈥渙n the one hand by a continuous impact of the COVID-19 pandemic鈥� but also 鈥渂y some rewarding progress on our strategy to become the integrator of container logistics.鈥�
Skou said the Danish company鈥檚 main operations 鈥減erformed at record level in the quarter as a consequence of the strong rebound of demand which led to full capacity utilization.鈥� He, however, noted that the full capacity situation within the company led to 鈥渂ottlenecks, higher costs and difficulties in meeting our customer reliability promises.鈥�
Maersk's business is closely watched within the shipping and other industries as it seen as a barometer of global trade.
Skou noted that he saw Maersk continuing to grow its earnings "as the economic situation normalizes in 2021 and beyond.鈥�
The Associated Press
