A.P. Moller –Maersk reach $62 billion in revenue in 2021

A.P. Moller – Maersk (Maersk) has published its operational results for 2021, which have shattered previous financial records.

Revenues for the company reached $61.8 billion in 2021, up 55 percent from the previous year’s figures.

In addition, EBITDA increased to $24 billion, with $16.5 billion in free cash flow. As a result, Maersk was able to undertake critical investments in decarbonisation and logistical expansion, as well as make significant cash distributions to shareholders.

The corporation has pushed back its objective for net zero emissions to 2040. To ensure significant development, measurable near-term milestones for 2030 were also defined.

“Exceptional market conditions led to record-high growth and profitability in Maersk, however it also led to supply chain disruptions and severe challenges for our customers,” said Søren Skou, CEO of Maersk.

“We spent tremendous efforts in mitigating bottlenecks by expanding capacity across Ocean, improving productivity in Terminals, and growing our global logistics footprint.

“We will continue these efforts as we see the current market situation persist into Q2. At the same time, we see conversations with customers change from procurement-led freight rate discussions to more holistic conversations on how we truly partner to keep supply chains running end-to-end. This clearly validates our strategy.”

Ocean revenue climbed significantly in 2021, reaching $48.2 billion, up from $29.2 billion the previous year. Due to worldwide supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this was fueled by high freight charges.

In the terminals sector, profitability has also increased. The return on capital investment (ROCI) improved to 10.9 percent, owing to strong volumes and storage income. The minimum ROIC target for the organization is 9%.

As revenue on Maersk.com topped $38 billion, the business proceeded to adopt digital solutions and services throughout its operations. Customers continued to adopt digital solutions, resulting in a 15% rise in traffic.

In the same 12-month period, 85 new warehouses were opened, expanding the company’s capabilities and footprint across its product offering. Following a deal with Ispahani Summit Alliance Terminals Limited, a new 200,000-square-foot warehouse will open in Chattogram, Bangladesh.

Maersk expects the current market condition to continue into the second quarter of 2022, with a normalization occurring early in the second half of the year.

For full year 2022, the company is expecting:

• An underlying EBITDA of around $24 billion
• Underlying EBIT of around $19 billion
• Free cash flow of above $15 billion

Container demand is predicted to rise by 2-4 percent globally. Due to challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, this is vulnerable to uncertainty in the worldwide supply chain.

The accumulated capital expenditure (CAPEX) for 2022-2023 is expected to be $9 billion to $10 billion, driven by growth in Logistics & Services and ESG investments.