On Wednesday, shipping group Maersk expressed its confidence in the shipping sector’s outlook after 2020 as the sector was only moderately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The company has recovered unexpectedly faster after the pandemic crashed the global trade, as retail sales, mainly in the US, has stayed robust.
CEO Soren Skou commented, “One thing we have learned is that it does not really matter if a society is in lockdown or not because consumers spend their money online instead of going to the mall. People spent money buying things like flat-screen TVs or new shoes.”
On a different view, in October some shipping executives had warned that the surge in freight rates due to the soaring shipments into the US could be slowed by the coronavirus-related lockdown measures.
Nevertheless, looking forward, Skou expected that in 2020, global container volumes to contract by 4%-5%. In 2021, the volumes would return to normal with volumes slightly higher than the 2019 levels.
On a related note, the company’s third-quarter sales dropped a tad year-on-year to USD9.92 billion. Meanwhile, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 39% to USD2.3 billion.
Maersk increased its 2020 earnings prediction on the back of the increasing momentum in the latest quarter in global container volumes and freight rates. It also announced a new share buy-back program of up to DKK10 billion (USD1.60 billion) on the back of robust earnings and free cash flow generation seen this year.
