The container shipping operations of nine of the leading publicly traded liner operators saw aggregated operating income more than triple last year.
Cosco Shipping Lines, HMM, Hapag-Lloyd, AP Moller-Maersk, Ocean Network Express (ONE), Zim and Taiwan's Evergreen Marine, Wan Hai Lines and Yang Ming Marine Transport recorded an aggregated operating income of $15.1bn in 2020.
That is up from the $48.8bn recorded in 2019, according to Alphaliner estimates.
The boxship analyst said the dramatic improvement in results underlined the “stark impact of Covid-19”.
“The results follow an average operating margin of 24.5% in the last quarter of 2020 based on a non-weighted average, with six lines either close to or above margins of 30%,” Alphaliner said.
Zim and Yang Ming and Wan Hai were said to have “led the field” in the final quarter, followed by HMM, Evergreen and ONE.
Alphaliner said the three main Taiwanese carriers benefited from soaring transpacific rates and the added rate impact of box shortages.
The container shortages have been caused by “pandemic buying”, as consumers spend money on imported goods, including home renovations and personal shopping, rather than travel and experiences, leaving empty boxes to build up away from the Asian ports where they are needed.
Lower end of the scale
Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk and Cosco Shipping Lines were “at the lower end of the scale with margins below 20%”, Alphaliner said.
“The results reflect the pure operational earnings of carriers with extraordinary gains or losses from ship sales and impairments stripped out,” it added.
“Total revenues for the nine carriers came in at $128bn for the year, just 6.5% higher than the $120bn recorded in 2019, emphasising the impact of higher freight rates and lower fuel costs on earnings.”
Alphaliner said the positive effect of Covid-19 was “felt quickly during the year”, with second-quarter margins already marking a turnaround, and no carrier posting negative operating margins since the first quarter.
HMM was said to be the last liner company to report a negative operating margin then. Yang Ming was also said to be negative as recently as the fourth quarter of 2019.
“The final result for 2020 is a far cry from some of the doomsday predictions made mid-year, with fears the industry might post a collective net loss of up to $10bn for the year,” Alphaliner said.
