AP Moeller Maersk’s share price up, posts 62% rise in profit for the first financial quarter, raises its 2014 forecast

AP Moeller Maersk A/S, which owns the biggest container-shipping line globally, made an official statement sharing its results for the first quarter of the current financial year. The company revealed that the profit of Maersk Line unit, which transports about 15% of the worlds containers, more than doubled in the first three months of 2014.

AP Moeller Maersk said that the net income of Maersk Line unit increased from 204 million dollars for the same period a year ago to 454 million dollars during the first financial quarter, which ended March. The company shared that its earnings before interest and taxes increased to 2.24 billion dollars, surpassing the median analysts estimate of 2.09 billion dollars.

The company also boosted its annual forecast due to a 62% increase in its first-quarter net profit. Moeller Maersk projected full-year underlying earnings of about 4 billion dollars, increasing its previous forecast that amounted to 3.6 billion dollars. As reported by Bloomberg, the company said that its higher forecast is “driven by improved operational performance and utilization.”

The strong performance of the company is believed to be a result of serious cost reduction. The attempts of global trade to increase its profitability are also considered beneficial to the results of Moeller Maersk. The company explained that it expects its net income for the current financial year to be “above” the result it posted in 2013. in comparison, its previous projection was of a result “in line” with the net profit reported in 2013, which was estimated to 1.5 billion dollars.

The industry, however, still remains problematic. However, AP Moeller Maersk A/S said it expects the container demand to rise by about 4-5% until the end of 2014 compared with a growth of 3.5% in 2013.

AP Moeller Maersk A/S added 3.30% to trade at 13 770 Dannish krones per share by 12:26 GMT, marking a one year change of +64.64%. According to the information published on the Financial Times, the 22 analysts offering 12-month price targets for AP Moeller Maersk A/S have a median target of 14,150.04, with a high estimate of 17,600 and a low estimate of 10,200.06. The median estimate represents a 7.85% increase from the last price of 13,120.