Maersk’s rising earnings lift full-year outlook

FULL ships, steady demand and "strong commercial and operational execution" in the third quarter have prompted Maersk to raise the upper end of its full-year underlying EBITDA guidance by USD 2 billion.

For the group, EBITDA was USD 4.7 billion and EBIT was USD 3.3 billion in the third quarter, up on both the prior year and second quarter, Maersk said in releasing its results in Copenhagen overnight.

Strong commercial and operational execution enabled Maersk to translate the market conditions into a 27% year-on-year increase in revenue to USD 18.1 billion, driven by all three businesses. Group EBITDA rose from USD 2.7 billion to USD 4.7 billion, while EBIT increased from USD 1.3 billion to USD 3.3 billion, bringing the EBIT margin to 18.1%.

Ocean generated significantly better earnings, driven by steady volumes and higher freight rates, against a backdrop of resilient trade flows and congestion-driven capacity constraints, Maersk said.

"The division continued to leverage the favourable market, pushing EBIT up to USD 2.6 billion (USD 567 million in Q3 2025). Despite adverse weather conditions in Asia constraining capacity and loadings, loaded volumes remained high, with vessel utilisation remaining at 96%.

"The continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz and widespread network congestion increased bunker, network and container handling costs and affected schedule reliability."

Logistics & Services revenue grew by 13%, supported by strong volume development across most products, elevated rates and landbridge solutions in the Middle East. Landside was the largest contributor to growth, driven by landbridge solutions across the Gulf region.

Forwarding also performed strongly, with solid volume growth in air and project logistics, while contract logistics continued to deliver revenue growth within solutions. Profitability improved year-on-year, with the EBIT margin increasing to 5.8% from 5.5%, reflecting disciplined cost management and solid operational execution.

APM Terminals confirmed its strong position, delivering record-high revenue. Volumes increased by 2.6%, supported by growth in Africa and Europe of 14% and 6.7% respectively. Utilisation was 85% (90%). Adjusted for a concession extension-related impairment reversal recognised in 2025, the EBIT margin increased by 0.5 percentage points from 32.0% to 32.5%.

Full-year guidance has been raised to an underlying EBITDA of USD 14.0-14.5 billion (previously USD 10.5-12.5 billion) and an underlying EBIT of USD 8.0-8.5 billion (previously USD 4.5-6.5 billion).

"We delivered a strong quarter across our businesses," Maersk chief executive Vincent Clerc said.

"Despite continued geopolitical uncertainty and disruptions, global trade has remained remarkably resilient.

"Demand is being driven not only by consumer spending but increasingly by major investments in electrification, energy and the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure, generating significant flows of industrial cargo around the world.

"We have been well positioned to capture this demand, with our vessel fleet operating at full capacity and demand exceeding available space on certain routes. This reflects both the underlying strength of global trade and the tremendous job our colleagues are doing every day to deliver for our customers."