(Bloomberg) -- A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S raised its full-year operating-profit forecast by $6 billion as the container giant said the booming market will normalize later than it previously expected.
Maersk expects to report a 2022 profit of about $30 billion, measured as underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, the Copenhagen-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. That’s up from the $24 billion Maersk predicted in February and compares with an average estimate of $28.3 billion in a survey by Bloomberg.
Maersk said that results were driven by an “exceptional market situation” with high freight rates, which now are expected to continue into the second quarter. The company, which transports about one-sixth of the world’s containers, said it expects the market to normalize in the second half of the year.
Freight volumes dropped 7% in the first quarter as bottlenecks continue to hamper supply lines, Maersk said, adding that the disruption allowed container lines to charge 71% higher rates than a year earlier.
Maersk now sees a risk of the global container market contracting this year. Global demand may decline 1% or rise 1%, it said, cutting a previous forecast of 2% to 4% growth. Maersk is due to report its first-quarter results on May 4.
(Updates with details from fourth paragraph)
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