The prominent Danish shipping company, Maersk, experienced a substantial decline in first-quarter net profit due to the necessity of circumventing the crucial Red Sea route amidst Yemeni rebel assaults.
Maersk recorded a net profit of $177 million during the initial quarter of the year, marking a staggering 13-fold decrease compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Turnover declined by 13 percent to $12.4 billion, slightly below the forecast provided by analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet.
Despite this, the company revised its outlook for the entire year upwards, attributing it to heightened demand and escalated rates and costs resulting from disruptions in the supply chain within the Red Sea region.
The company now anticipates an underlying core profit in the range of $4 billion to $6 billion, an increase from the previous forecast of $1 billion to $6 billion.
Maersk chief executive Vincent Clerc said in a statement, “We had a positive start to the year with a first quarter developing precisely as we expected.
“Demand is trending towards the higher end of our market growth guidance and conditions in the Red Sea remain entrenched.
“This not only supported a recovery in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter, but also provide an improved outlook for the coming quarters, as we now expect these conditions to stay with us for most of the year.”
