CMA CGM has closed 2018 with a worsening of the results although the transported revenues and volumes record



Last year the fleet of ships of the French shipowning group CMA CGM has transported a volume containerized cargo record, activity that has generated a level of the volume of transactions never reached previously. The transported total has been pairs to beyond 20,7 million teu, with a progression of +9.3% regarding 18,9 million teu in 2017 to which it has partially contributed the acquisition of the company of Finnish navigation Containerships that is bought by the French group last November(on 20 June 2018).

In the 2018 revenues of CMA CGM they have reached an historical peak almost 23,5 billion dollars, with an increase of +11.2% on the exercise anniversary precedence. Considerably more emphasized the increment of costs (+17.5%) that they are piled to 22,3 billion dollars, rise that is produced by an increase generalized of all the items of expenditure between which that relative one to the purchase of the bunker and other consumer goods that has turned out pairs to 3,6 billion dollars (+40.9%; +33% the increment of the cost of the single fuel for the propulsion of the ships). The EBITDA has been attested at less than 1,2 billion dollars (- 45.4%). The operating profit has been of 493,6 million dollars (- 68.6%) and the profit clearly of 68,3 million dollars (- 90.7%).

Besides the new records anniversaries of revenues and transported volumes, CMA CGM has concluded 2018 marking also the new quarterly historical peaks of both data: in the fourth trimester last year, in fact, the revenues have totaled 6,3 billion dollars, with an increment of +14.9% on the same period of 2017 and with an increase of about 240 million dollars on the previous record recorded in the third trimester of 2018; moreover in the last trimester of the 2018 fleet of the group it has transported more than 5,3 million teu, with an increase of +7.9% on the period October-December of 2017 and with an increase of about 60 thousand containers compared to the previous achieved historical peak in the third trimester of 2018.

In the fourth trimester last year the French group has recorded an EBITDA of 341,4 million dollars (- 18.1%), a EBIT of 94,8 million dollars (- 66.5%) and a net loss of -8,2 million dollars respect to a profit clearly of 105,4 million dollars in the last trimester of 2017.

The president and managing director of CMA CGM, Rodolphe Saadé, have evidenced that "in 2018, in a difficult context, the group has recorded a fort increase of the volumes and revenues record pairs almost 23,5 billion dollars. Although the increase of the prices of the oil - it has found Saadé - our recurrent EBIT margin has remained remarkablly to above regarding the average of the field".

Referring to the recent offer introduced from CMA CGM for the acquisition of the logistic group CEVA(on 26 October 2018), Saadé has explained that, "through friendly the public purchase offer that we are leading on CEVA, we have the ambition to become world leaders is in the field of the transports that in that of the logistics, offering so complete and efficient a range of services to our customers".

In occasion of the communication of the achieved economic results from the group in 2018, moreover, CMA CGM has announced also the start of a new one slowly of control of the costs in the course of 2019 thanks to which the group previews to obtain savings pairs to 1,2 billion dollars, plan of which the company it has not been profitable you notice the contents only specifying that the cut of the costs will happen through the optimization of the services and the brands of the group and through an ulterior optimization of the procedures.