Maersk has been obliged to issue a profit warning ahead of the publication of its half-year results on 18 August after its earnings guidance proved to be “overly optimistic”, according to consultant Alphaliner.
The Danish transport group issued the “adjustment to expectations” to the stock exchange, based on challenging trading in the second quarter.
It said it saw profitability “negatively impacted”, with a 28% increase in bunker prices over the same period of 2017, and a 1.2% drop in average freight rates.
But despite the profit warning, Maersk saw its shares bounce back by around 7% yesterday, as investors regarded the revised guidance as “not as bad as feared”, along with Mr Skou’s prediction of improved rates in Q3.
Elsewhere, Hapag-Lloyd is scheduled to announce its H1 interim results on Friday.
