Denmark: Maersk Line aims to get back on track in Q4 2017

14.11.2017

Denmark: Maersk Line aims to get back on track in Q4 2017
Børsen, 14 Nov 2017, 6:-
Danish business conglomerate A.P. Møller-Mærsk has set a deadline for when its container shipping division Maersk Line is expected to get back on track. Søren Toft, COO of Maersk Line, comments that the Q3 2017 figures were highly disappointing, and that the current plan is for Maersk Line to reach normalised growth and customer levels already in Q4 2017. He further says that this will not facilitate any price reductions, but that the company instead seeks to prioritise improved reliability. While A.P. Møller-Mærsk CEO Søren Skou recently commented that the Maersk Line transport volume decrease by 2.5% in Q3 2017 was unsatisfactory even when disregarding the cyber attack which took place in summer 2017, Søren Loft states that other factors have contributed to the decline as well. He says that the higher costs and lower volumes in part stem from Maersk Line having cleaned up its portfolio starting in Q2 2017, where primarily the company backhaul routes have seen reductions. Moving forward, Loft says that Maersk Line will seek to regain lost market shares via processes across the board to avoid added costs. Morten Imsgard, senior analyst at Danish bank Sydbank, welcomes Maersk Line's ambitions to fix the issues by Q4 2017, stating that it is a necessary move in order to show the world that the company can grow in line with the industry.
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