Maersk reports growth across all business units in the first quarter

A.P. Moller-Maersk reported solid first-quarter 2026 results, with EBIT of $340 million, driven by strong volume growth across all business units, continued operational improvements and disciplined cost-control measures.

“We saw robust demand across most regions during the quarter, supporting consistent volume growth in our three business segments. In Ocean, in particular, market volatility remains high and industry overcapacity continues to put pressure on rates. In that context, our disciplined focus on cost management contributed to resilient performance.

At the same time, our flexible ocean network continues to be a competitive differentiator, reducing our unit cost by 7%, even amid supply-chain disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East. We also saw a positive profitability trajectory in Terminals and across most of Logistics & Services. This performance reinforces our competitiveness and our ability to support customers reliably, even in a global environment that remains marked by uncertainty,” said Vincent Clerc, Maersk’s chief executive officer.

Financial highlights

In a volatile geopolitical environment, demand for container transport expanded again in the first quarter of 2026, driven by strong growth in exports from China, which accelerated compared with the previous three months. The onset of the conflict in the Middle East had limited impact on demand and financial performance during the period. Logistics & Services and Terminals have relatively low exposure to the region. Combined with the company’s ability to use its modular Ocean network to mitigate disruptions in volumes and service levels, this positioned Maersk to handle challenges without material financial impact.

The company continued to capture demand momentum, with results marked by rising volumes even as freight rates remained under pressure. Despite market-share gains in Ocean, revenue came in slightly below the year-earlier level due to lower loaded freight rates. That effect was partially offset by revenue growth in Logistics & Services and Terminals.

EBITDA stood at $1.8 billion, versus $2.7 billion a year earlier, while EBIT totaled $340 million, down from $1.3 billion. The EBIT margin reached 2.6%, up 1.7 percentage points from 0.9% in the fourth quarter of 2025, but still 6.8 percentage points lower year on year.

Business segment highlights

Ocean

Ocean delivered solid operational execution, with shipped volumes rising 9.3% and asset utilization reaching 96%. Stable operating costs, supported by efficiency gains and lower bunker costs, partially offset continued freight-rate pressure stemming from industry overcapacity.

EBIT was negative $192 million, compared with $743 million in the year-earlier quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2025, EBIT was negative $153 million.

Logistics & Services

Logistics & Services maintained its performance improvement trend, with revenue growth of 8.7% and year-on-year EBIT margin expansion for the eighth consecutive quarter. The advance was driven mainly by the development of products such as Air and Middle Mile, ongoing cost discipline and structural efficiency gains across the portfolio.

EBIT was $173 million, up from $142 million in the year-earlier quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2025, EBIT was $194 million.

Terminals

Terminals posted another strong quarter, with volume growth of 4.3% and resilient results. Revenue rose 6.7%, while revenue per move increased 3.4%, reflecting tariff improvements, favorable foreign-exchange effects and terminal mix, partly offset by lower storage revenue.

EBIT was $436 million, up from $394 million in the year-earlier quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2025, EBIT was $321 million.

Investments

In the first quarter of 2026, Maersk ordered eight large vessels for delivery in 2029-2030, in line with its fleet renewal strategy. The ships, with capacity of 18,600 TEUs, are equipped with dual-fuel engines, allowing operation on either conventional fuel or liquefied gas, which increases deployment flexibility across the company’s global network.

Source: Maersk

Sharing is caring!