CMA CGM Reports Solid Results for Q3
CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container shipping group, posted a third-quarter net profit of $323 million, up from $219 million in the previous quarter and a $268 million loss a year earlier.
During the third quarter, volumes carried by CMA CGM experienced a strong growth of +11.6% in comparison to Q3 2016. During the period, CMA CGM carried close to 5 million containers, a record figure.
This increase can be explained by the strong growth in volumes carried through OCEAN Alliance, on the Asia-USA and Asia-Europe routes, as well as on most of the North-South and Intraregional routes.
The increase in freight rates seen at the beginning of the year has continued through this quarter, enabling an increase of 14.4% in average revenue per container carried.
As a result, revenues in the third quarter of 2017 have sharply risen by 27.7% to 5.7 billion USD.
CMA CGM reported a core EBIT margin of 10.0% to 568 million USD in the third quarter of 2017.
CMA CGM thus maintains its leadership within the sector in terms of profitability. This performance results from the Group's ability to leverage its size and global network to optimize both revenues and costs, despite rising fuel prices.
In light of the Group's results and the improved outlook for the shipping industry, the rating agency Standard & Poor's upgraded the CMA CGM Group's rating to B+ with a stable outlook; more recently, Moody's adopted a positive outlook of its B1 rating.
