COPENHAGEN, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Danish oil and shipping group A.P. Moeller-Maersk saw a dip in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) on higher bunker costs for the second quarter 2018, according to its latest financial statement.
The group registered an EBITDA of 883 million U.S. dollars for the second quarter, down 18 percent from 1.1 billion dollars for the same period last year.
Maersk said the EBITDA was negatively impacted by increased bunker costs in Ocean segment of 425 million dollars, adding that the average bunker price was 28 percent higher than the same period last year while the average freight rate in Ocean was 1.2 percent lower.
It added EBITDA was also negatively impacted by adverse foreign exchange rate in the level of net 50 million dollars compared to Q2 2017.
Maersk reported 9.5 billion dollars revenue in the second quarter, up 24 percent year-on-year from 7.7 billion dollars, citing the acquisition of Hamburg Sud as a positive contributor.
Second-quarter EBIT stood at 46 million dollars, down from 277 million dollars, year-on-year, which was negatively impacted by write-down of assets of 141 million dollars and restructuring costs related to the closure of Maersk Container Industry's reefer factory in Chile.
As such, Maersk has on August 7 lowered its earnings guidance for the full-year 2018, expecting its EBITDA to reach in the range of 3.5 billion to 4.2 billion dollars, as opposed to a previously forecast of 4 billion to 5 billion dollars.
The group also forecasts "a positive underlying profit" against the previous expectation an underlying profit above 2017 level.
It added the guidance "continues to be subject to uncertainties due to the current risk of further restrictions on global trade and other factors impacting container freight rates, bunker prices and rate of exchange."
On Friday, Maersk also announced the decision to pursue a separate listing of Maersk Drilling on Nasdaq Copenhagen in 2019.
"With the decision made on Maersk Drilling, A.P. Moller-Maersk can stay focused on transitioning into an integrated transport and logistics company and developing solutions to meet our customer's end-to-end supply chain management needs," said A.P. Moller-Maersk CEO Soeren Skou.
He added the group will continue to grow revenue with a specific focus on non-Ocean revenue and at the same time improve the current unsatisfactory level of profitability.
