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Q3 profits down, year-to-date profits on the up
CMA CGM, the world’s third largest container shipping group, saw profits fall to US$70 million during the third quarter of the year, down 80 percent when compared to the $363 million posted in Q3 2012.
However, despite the relatively weak three-month period the French shipper remains on course to post a rise in profit for the full year, which, at the end of September, was up 50 percent year-over-year from $284 million to $434 million.
During the period, consolidated revenue amounted to $4.1 billion, up 1.4 percent over the second quarter and down 2.1 percent year-on-year. Meanwhile, container volumes carried by the ocean carrier rose 11 percent to 3.0 million TEU, a new historical record for the French group. The average revenue per TEU declined by 11.8 percent year-on-year, when Asia-Northern Europe market rates, as measured by the SCFI, contracted by more than 45 percent over the quarter.
In a release, CMA CGM also stated that it, along with Maersk Line and MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company), is still awaiting approval from various regulatory authorities for the P3 operational alliance. During the third quarter the shipping lines finalised their operating agreements on the Asia-Europe, Transatlantic and Transpacific trades, which, subject to approval, will be deployed in the second-quarter of 2014.
