Asian container lines have reaped the spoils in a market where operating margins have risen to their second-highest level in history.
Average operating margins for leading container carriers breached 20% in the second quarter of 2024, according to analyst Alphaliner’s estimates.
That is a figure only previously recorded during the Covid pandemic.
Alphaliner said: “It marks a level of carrier financial return only previously exceeded in Q4 2020-Q4 2022 when the pandemic was in full swing.”
The previous quarter’s average margin had been the highest since 2010.
Average returns rose from 11.4% in the first quarter to 21.6% in the three months to the end of June, Alphaliner said.
Total operating profits for the nine largest companies reporting Ebit reached $6.1bn, up from $4.4bn in the same period a year earlier.
Maersk bottom
Asian carriers with strong spot exposure to Far East exports performed best in the latest quarter.
Taiwanese liner giant Evergreen Marine Corp posted the highest margin at 30.7%, after operating profits reached $1bn.
It was followed by four Asian operators — Wan Hai, HMM, Yang Ming Marine Transport and Cosco — which all had operating margins over 25%.
Israeli liner operator Zim was the only other carrier to achieve margins of that level, in contrast to the performance of European operators.
AP Moller-Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd were the two worst-performing liners with operating margins of 5.6% and 9.8%, respectively.
It is the third consecutive quarter where Maersk ranked bottom, Alphaliner said.
Margins were much lower because the two liners had less exposure to exports out of Asia and a greater focus on longer contract business, it added.
It noted that both carriers expect firmer results in the third quarter as higher spot rates impact their longer-term contracts.
CMA CGM does not report Ebit, but was seventh in rankings measured by Ebitda. Ocean Network Express logged a margin of 15.8%.
Operating margins measure how efficiently a company generates a profit from its core operations.
The higher margin indicates better efficiency at turning sales into profits.
