Safmarine profit hits US$186 million in the first 9 months

SAFMARINE, an AP Moller-Maersk unit specialising in north-south routes, announced a net profit of US$186 million drawn on a revenue over $2.4 billion in the first nine months of the year.

As this was the first time Safmarine has reported financial results, no comparative year-on-year figures were made available. But compared with its parent`s container division, the carrier only made 7.75 US cents on every dollar earned, which was lower than its holding company`s 17.7 cent rate, reported London`s Containerisation International. AP Moller-Maersk recorded a net profit of $2.25 billion with $19.5 billion revenue in the same period.


This reflects the fact that the east-west trade is the most profitable sector for most carriers and the size is much bigger than the vertical one. But as a carrier mainly provides north-south services, Safmarine`s financial ratios last year were better than Maersk Line`s, implying north-south trade experiences less fluctuation.


Overall, Safmarine carried 606,478 FEU in the first nine months of the year compared to Maersk`s 4,793,522 FEU in the same period.