Danish maritime data analysis company Sea-Intelligence reports that the major shipping lines, which publish their financial results, have achieved US$122 billion in the first three quarters of 2022, while their overall operating profit in the last year was US$124 billion.
The following figure shows the earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT)/TEU in the third quarter for the period from 2010 to 2022, for the major carriers that report EBIT and container volumes.
The figures for 2021-Q3 and 2022-Q3 dwarf those of the previous years, with some of the carriers seeing a substantial increase Y/Y in the third quarter of the current year.
ZIM was the only carrier with a Y/Y decrease, but still with one of the strongest 2022-Q3 EBIT/TEU figures.
“Not all of the developments are positive from the perspective of the shipping lines,” noted Alan Murphy, CEO of Sea-Intelligence.
He explains that while most of the larger carriers recorded double-digit revenue growth Y/Y, the smaller carriers struggled in that respect, which is not surprising given the falling freight rates.
“Same is the case with EBIT; the smaller carriers are struggling to grow their EBIT Y/Y and are recording various levels of decline. The underlying numbers are still strong though, but the data strongly suggests that we are at the end-of-the-line of the carrier profitability boom,” concluded Murphy.
