AP Moeller-Maersk says its container-shipping line, the world’s largest, returned to profit in the fourth quarter as freight rates rose and forecast higher earnings this year.
Maersk Line’s net income totalled $335 million (€254 million), compared with a loss of $593 million a year earlier, the Copenhagen-based company said in a statement.
The shipping operator has reduced its fleet and slowed vessel speeds last year as falling worldwide consumer demand stints cargo volume, hurting prices for carrying freight.
Maersk said profit this year would be higher than the $461 million reached in 2012 as the company cuts costs and container demand growth accelerated.
Net income at parent AP Moeller-Maersk, which also owns an oil unit and a port-terminal operator, rose 43 per cent. – (Bloomberg )