Maersk’s 2025 Report: Some Records and Some Lay Offs
A.P. Møller - Mærsk has released its 2025 annual report with CEO Vincent Clerc, stating: “We delivered a strong performance and high value for our customers in a year where supply chains and global trade continued to be reshaped by evolving geopolitics. Across our operations, volumes grew and asset utilisation was very high. Our Ocean business set a new benchmark for reliability, Terminals delivered record results, and Logistics & Services continued to advance.
“The year highlighted the need to strengthen and modernise global supply chains and critical infrastructure, further emphasising the relevance of our strategy. Our key to success remains to grow in close partnership with our customers, leveraging our unique asset footprint, and a continuous drive for operational excellence and cost discipline.”
Maersk, which reported a fourth-quarter operating profit roughly in line with forecasts, expects strong demand for shipping goods at sea, boosted by consumer spending, but an influx of new vessels and an expected full resumption of Red Sea routes that cut journey times will weigh on freight rates.
"New ships are coming in, and at the same time, shipping through the Red Sea is likely to reopen, which will free up ship capacity. All of this will put pressure on freight rates this year," Clerc said at a press conference.
Maersk also announced plans to extend the operational lifespan of its container vessels from 20 to 25 years, reducing scrapping activity and adding further capacity. New vessels are expected to increase capacity by 5% this year.
"Many had hoped that more ships would be scrapped to offset the arrival of many new ships," said Jyske Bank analyst Haider Anjum. "But when you extend their lifespan, it points in the other direction, and it means that freight rates will come under further pressure as capacity increases so much."
The resumption of Red Sea shipping routes is set to free 6%-7% of global container shipping capacity this year, Clerc said. While these shorter routes reduce transit times on critical corridors such as Asia-Europe, they also exacerbate overcapacity in the market.
"Demand in the global economy is super strong," Clerc said, while pointing out that "the supply side shapes the current situation that we face in the shipping sector".
As part of broader cost-cutting measures to navigate increased uncertainty and pressure on profitability, Maersk will reduce its share buyback programme and cut 1,000 administrative jobs.
Maersk’s full-year revenue stood at USD 54.0bn (USD 55.5bn), EBITDA was USD 9.5bn (USD 12.1bn), and EBIT was USD 3.5bn (USD 6.5bn) – reaching the top-end of the financial guidance.
The Ocean business drove increased competitiveness through high asset utilisation and volumes growth in line with market at 4.9%, while profitability declined due to lower freight rates caused by supply overcapacity. The new East-West network was launched and delivered industry-leading reliability with more than 90% on-time arrivals on average and has enabled cost savings above expectations.
The Logistics & Services business continued to invest and to advance performance delivering improved profitability and operational improvements. Despite this progress, the segment is not yet at full potential and further improved performance remains a priority.
Maersk continued to strengthen its position as a global leader in terminal operations and critical port infrastructure. Terminals accelerated growth by developing new sites, modernising existing facilities, and securing key concessions across strategic locations. Terminals revenue increased by 20% propelled by record-high volumes from strong demand, improved rates and higher storage revenue. This underpinned the delivery of the best financial results on record.
Q4 2025 financial highlights
Ocean
• Strong volume growth of 8.0%; Continued market pressure on freight rates drove EBIT into negative territory
• EBIT: USD -153m, down from USD 567m in the previous quarter. Was USD 1.6bn in Q4 24
Logistics & Services
• Revenue grew 1.9% from Q4 2024, profitability improved year-on-year for the seventh consecutive quarter with the EBIT margin increasing 0.8 percentage points to 4.9%: improvements driven particularly by the performance in Warehousing and E-fulfilment.
• EBIT: USD 194m, down from USD 218m in the previous quarter. Was USD 158m in Q4 24
Terminals
• Revenue grew 13% from Q4 2024; Volumes grew 8.4% driven by strong demand across Americas and Europe. The EBIT margin excluding impairment in Europe and a write-down in Asia was 30.1%
• EBIT: USD 321m, down from USD 571m in the previous quarter due to one-offs. Was USD 338m in Q4 24
Organisational cost reductions
To drive continuous productivity improvements and maintain strong cost discipline, Maersk has announced steps to simplify the organisation and reduce the company’s corporate overhead. As part of this, Maersk is reducing corporate costs across headquarters, regions, and countries with USD 180m annually. Out of approximately 6,000 corporate positions, around 15% - or approximately 1,000 positions - will be closed. The required notification and consultation processes have been initiated.
Regrouping products in Logistics & Services
Maersk’s Logistics & Services product portfolio will be regrouped into three subsegments: Landside, Forwarding, and Solutions. This grouping reflects the general product segmentation in the industry and the fundamental differences across logistics products in how they create value for customers.
Consequently, the organization is adjusted with Landside products managed locally at a country level, while Forwarding and Solutions will operate as global product organisations. Responsibility for the global products will be divided between two roles, aligned with the new product categories.
Narin Phol, current Head of Logistics & Services, is appointed Head of Solutions, and Christoph Hemmann, current Global Head of Air Product & LCL, is appointed Head of Forwarding. With this appointment, Christoph Hemmann will join Maersk’s Executive Leadership Team alongside Narin Phol.
Financial guidance
Guidance is based on the expectation that global container volume growth will be between 2% and 4% in 2026 and that A.P. Moller – Maersk will grow in line with the market. The ranges reflect the expected overcapacity in the shipping industry and scenarios of a gradual Red Sea reopening in 2026.
The underlying EBIT guidance also includes the impact of a change in estimated useful lives of vessels from 20 to 25 years effective 1 January 2026, with an estimated impact of around USD 700m in reduced depreciation in 2026.
(Reuters and staff)
