CMA CGM’s profit tumbles in rocky 2016

However, the French ocean carrier, which acquired APL last year, said operating profits recovered in the fourth quarter of the year.    French ocean carrier CMA CGM said Friday it had operating profits of $29 million in 2016, a steep drop from the $911 million the company made in 2015.
   Excluding the impact of the acquisition of NOL, the parent company of fellow carrier APL, CMA CGM’s operating profit for 2016 totaled $70 million.
   Meanwhile, CMA CGM’s revenue for the year stood at $16 billion, a 1.9 percent increase over 2015, but $2.6 billion of that revenue was attributable to the purchase of APL. Subtracting the revenue impact of that acquisition, CMA CGM’s revenue declined 14.7 percent in 2016.
   In the fourth quarter, the carrier had $193 million in operating profits (of which $174 million were not attributable to the APL deal), compared to $22 million in the corresponding quarter in 2015. Fourth quarter revenue rose 28 percent, to $4.6 billion ($1.3 billion of which was attributable to the APL deal).
   During the entire year, CMA CGM carried 15.6 million TEUs, a 20.4 percent increase over 2015 (though volume for CMA CGM minus the impact of APL decreased 1.3 percent).
   “In 2016, we succeeded in maintaining a slightly positive core EBIT (earnings before taxes and interest) margin, despite historically low freight rates, focusing on the volumes generating the highest contributions,” CMA CGM Group CEO Rodolphe Saadé said in a statement. “With the increase in freight rates observed in recent months and the operational discipline that we apply quarter after quarter, we recorded a positive result in the 4th quarter and delivered one of the best performances in the industry.
   “In 2017, the market is expected to continue its recovery. CMA CGM will pursue its strategy of development and innovation, in order to consistently offer its customers more high value-added services and thereby differentiating ourselves from the competition. In this context, the digital transformation that we are implementing within the Group will be a strategic tool to achieve this target.”