Shares of dry bulk shippers, including Dryships (DRYS) and Paragon Shipping (PRGN) have moved up slightly ahead of the broader indices after Danish conglomerate AP Moeller-Maersk A/S, the world’s largest container shipping firm, this morning said Q1 revenue for January through March rose 20% to $13.2 billion, with pre-tax profit up a whopping 66%.
Part of the top-line jump was pass-along of higher oil prices, with the average price per barrel in the period rising to $76 from $45 a year earlier. But volume was up, too, with the average forty-foot equivalent containers moved rising to 1.8 million from 1.5 million a year earlier, most of that coming from routes between Asia and Europe and within Asia. Rates on each container were up, on average, by 18%.
For this year, the firm expects global cargo volume to rise by 5%, but the company expects to keep a a tight rein on capacity in order to maximize operating margins and to keep rates from dipping. Ebitda margin rose in Q1 to 19.8% from 17% a year earlier on reduced operating and administrative costs.
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