A.P. Moller – Maersk has released its Q1 2020 results, noting the increasing use of its digital services amongst its customer base as the company reported a 23% increase in operating earnings compared with last year.
This represented total earnings of $1.5 billion on its revenue of $9.6 billion, with growth in income also mirrored by a continued expansion in Maersk’s product offerings, in line with its strategy of supporting customers’ supply chain activities from end-to-end.
“The transformation of A.P. Moller – Maersk from a diversified conglomerate to becoming a focused, integrated and digitised global logistics company continues to be validated also in this quarter, as we are serving our customers, connecting and digitising their supply chains, while also growing earnings and free cash flow in difficult circumstances,” said Søren Skou, CEO of A.P. Moller – Maersk.
In particular, the Danish shipping giant notes that usage of its digital services has “increased significantly” over the last year, with more and more customers beginning to explore options for remote management of their supply chains.
The Maersk app, for example, experienced an 86% increase in usage year-on-year, while Maersk Spot, introduced in Q2 2019 to provide online access to prices and loading guarantees, accounted for 25% of loaded short-term volume in the quarter, a 24% increase from Q4 2019.
However, while its Q1 results were strong, Maersk has confirmed the suspension of its full year guidance for 2020 due to the ongoing uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with global markets expected to contract as the crisis unfolds.
“2020 is a challenging year, but as we proactively respond to lower demands and show progress in our transformation and financial performance, we are strongly positioned to weather the storm,” said Mr Skou.
