New accounting standards brought in this year have boosted the operating margins of container lines, but increased debt.
Research by Alphaliner showed the IFRS 16 rules have increased major carriers' results in the first two quarters of 2019.
But they have also led to elevated debt levels "since long-term operating leases now have to be added to the companies’ financial liabilities," it said.
Previously, such leases of big and expensive ships could be kept off the balance sheet.
Some of the leased assets’ costs are now recognised as depreciation and interest expenses, instead of operating expenses.
Alphaliner looked at companies like CMA CGM, CSCL, Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk, HMM, ONE, Yang Ming and Zim.
Based on figures from carriers that provided their adjusted pre-IFRS 16 numbers for comparison, post-IFRS 16 EBIT margins have improved by up to 1.5%, while EBITDA margins grew by as much as 8.0%, it said.
The changes helped push the main carriers’ average operating margin up to 1.2% in the first quarter and 1.6% in the second, against negative margins a year ago.
"Margins were also helped by higher average freight rates, which offset the increased costs from higher bunker prices in the first half of this year," Alphaliner added.
According to accountants PwC, the new requirements eliminate nearly all off balance sheet accounting for lessees and redefine many commonly used financial metrics such as the gearing ratio and EBITDA.
