Shipping and oil conglomerate AP Moller-Maersk said yesterday third-quarter profit almost halved and global demand for container transportation this year would grow at a slower pace than previously expected.
The Danish company, which operates the largest container shipping business in the world, kept a reduced forecast made two weeks ago for a 2015 underlying profit of $3.4bn, down from the $4.0bn previously expected.
Maersk has taken a double hit to its businesses—its oil units have floundered as crude prices halved since last year, while low trade volumes and an overcapacity of vessels have weighed on Maersk Line, the container shipping business.
The earnings report, which showed third-quarter net profit almost halved to $778mn from $1.5bn a year ago, comes two days after Maersk Line said it would slash costs, cut staff by almost a fifth and pull out of some vessel orders.
Yesterday, the company said it now expected demand for seaborne container transportation around the world to grow 1-3% this year, lower than its previous view of 2-4%.
Growth in demand for shipping, at 1% in the third quarter, is the lowest since the 2008 financial crisis that hit the industry particularly hard. Maersk made an annual loss in 2009, the only year it has lost money in its 111-year history.
Though the global economy has recovered since, trade volumes have risen at a slower pace than in the past and economists are increasingly concerned about flagging growth in China.