by By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
Copenhagen (Reuters) -shipping Group AP Moller -Maersk on Thursday increased its profit export for the entire year, because the global demand for ocean container freight showed resilience despite concerns about trade wars.
Maersk, seen as a barometer of world trade, said that the worldwide container volumes will grow between 2% and 4% compared to a range of 1% and a growth of 4% estimated in May.
A contraction in the entry of the US “was more than compensated” by strong growth in imports in other regions, including Europe, Maersk said in his profit statement in the second quarter.
“Even with market volatility and historical uncertainty in world trade, demand remained resilient and we continued to respond with speed and flexibility,” said CEO Vincent Clerc.
Maersk now expects underlying income before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) this year between $ 8 billion and $ 9.5 billion, compared to the earlier guidelines between $ 6 billion and $ 9 billion.
Maersk said that in the second quarter EBITDA rose by 7% to $ 2.3 billion, compared to $ 1.98 billion expected by analysts.
Turnover increased by 3% on an annual basis to $ 13.1 billion between April and June, compared to $ 12.61 billion expected by analysts in a business -related survey.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, adaptation by Terje Solsvik)
