Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 33% to $1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2019, the company said late Friday.
The company's revenue also grew by 2.5% to $9.5 billion compared to the same quarter of 2018.
"We had a good start to 2019. In the first quarter, we have significantly strengthened our balance sheet," said Soren Skou, CEO of A.P. Moller -Maersk.
The company said in the statement that profitability in the "ocean" business section increased as EBITDA grew by 42% compared to the same period last year, mainly driven by an increase in average loaded freight rates and an improvement in total operating cost.
"Looking at terminal profitability, the opening of the Moin terminal, Costa Rica and positive underlying volume growth in gateway terminals had a positive impact on terminal profitability in the first quarter. The Terminals & Towage section reported an increase in revenue to $991 million from $911 million compared to same quarter last year," the company explained.
However, Skou noted that A.P. Moller-Maersk is facing considerable uncertainties from weaker macro factors.
"As well as the risk from trade tensions, volumes on Trans-Pacific trade between Asia and North America have shown signs of decline and new tariffs can potentially reduce expected growth in global container volumes by up to 1 percentage point," he said.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr