Friday, May 31, 2013

APM Terminals’ Quarterly Profit Dips

Terminal operator giant APM Terminals has posted profits of $166 million for the first quarter of 2013, which is down 26.5 percent from the same quarter last year despite moving the same number of containers as in Q1 of 2012.

The $226 million in profits APM reported during Q1 2012 included a divestment gain of $73 million following the sale of Maersk Equipment Service Co. and half of the company’s stake in the Port of Xiamen, China.

APM, which is part of the AP Moller Maersk Group, reported profits of $226 million, also reported container throughput of 8.6 million for the quarter, relatively unchanged from the same period the year before.

The global container terminal market saw a three percent increase in container volumes during the first quarter of 2013.

“The result for the period was affected by reduced volumes in North America and Western Europe, as well as reduced activity in level in Inland Services, following the divestment of Maersk Equipment Service Co. in the US in March 2012,” APM explained in a statement, saying that positive developments in terminals in high growth markets compensated for the downturn in volumes elsewhere.