Maersk’s Raging Profit Party Ends in a Hangover: Chris Bryant

Had I told you three years ago that Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S would report $31 billion in 2022 operating profit and promise to return almost half of that to shareholders, you’d have called me crazy. It did. But the shipping industry’s Covid-era bonanza is over and the hangover looks grim.

On Wednesday Maersk forecast its operating profit to decline to as little as $2 billion this year (or $5 billion if all goes well) as global consumers cut spending, causing shipping volumes and freight rates to decline. While Maersk is well-positioned to navigate the storm, its days as one ...