COPENHAGEN: Danish shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk yesterday said that first-quarter underlying profit plunged to US$224 million from US$1.5 billion a year earlier, with all sectors showing a drop in performance except drilling and tanker shipping services.
Hit by low oil prices and freight rates, the world’s largest shipping company said revenue fell almost 20 percent from a year earlier to US$8.5 billion. Chief executive Nils Smedegaard Andersen said that market conditions remained “challenging,” but maintained that the group was continuing to adjust its cost base to the new conditions.
