Oil and freight prices lift Denmark's Moller-Maersk

May 11, 2011, 10:05 GMT

Copenhagen - First-quarter net profits at Moller-Maersk almost doubled to 1.1 billion dollars, driven by higher oil and freight prices, the Danish shipping and oil group announced on Wednesday.

The net profit for the corresponding business period in 2010 was 639 million dollars, the conglomerate said.

Turnover, measured in dollars, increased by 10 per cent year-on- year to 14.5 billion dollars.

'We have had a good start to the year and are very satisfied with the results,' chief executive Nils S Andersen said in a statement.

The group that operates Maersk Line, the world's biggest container shipper, said it expected global demand for seaborne containers to grow by 6-8 per cent in 2011.

In the short term, it said freight prices were not expected to rise due to addition of new tonnage. Higher oil prices could also weigh on profit.

The group repeated its earlier statement that it expected full-year results to be lower than in 2010.

The group's total fleet counted 593 container vessels at the end of the three-month period, of which about 350 were chartered.

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

Year-on-year the oil price was 38 per cent higher but production decreased 13 per cent, mainly as a result of a lower production share in Qatar. The group also has production in the Danish section of the North Sea, Britain, Algeria and Kazakhstan.

During the quarter the group was also involved in exploration in Angola, Brazil, Denmark, Norway, Qatar, Britain and the United States. Exploration costs were flat year-on-year.

Read more about Denmark Business

Read more about Transportation