Shipping giant Moller-Maersk back in black for 2010

Feb 23, 2011, 8:40 GMT

Copenhagen - Danish shipping and oil giant Moller-Maersk Wednesday posted a record 5-billion-dollar net profit for full-year 2010 - fuelled by the recovery in world trade and higher oil prices.

The result was compares with a net loss of 1 billion dollars reported in 2009.

Turnover increased from 48.6 billion dollars in 2009 to 56.1 billion dollars, the congolomerate said.

The group - which operates Maersk Line, the world's biggest container shipper - said average freight rates were up 29 per cent while volumesincreased 5 per cent on 2009.

In 2009, in the wake of the global economic meltdown, freight rates dropped 28 per cent.

The group's fleet counted 570 container vessels, of which 325 were chartered.

The group however said it expects a lower result for 2011, but estimated higher demand for seaborne containers.

AP Moller-Maersk Group operations include sea transport, offshore oil and gas activities and retail and shipyard operations.

The group had some 108,000 employees at the end of 2010, compared to 115,000 the previous year.

Year-on-year the average oil price was 29 per cent higher in 2009. The group has production in Qatar, the Danish section of the North Sea, Britain, Algeria and Kazakhstan.

It is also engaged in exploration in Angola, Brazil, Greenland, Norway, Oman and the US Gulf of Mexico.

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