Thursday, August 17, 2017

Shipping: Despite $300 Million Revenue Hit From Cyber Attack Maersk Is Upbeat

First up, ZDNet;

Petya ransomware: Cyberattack costs could hit $300m for shipping giant Maersk
June's cyberattack will cost the international shipping firm hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue.
Falling victim to the global Petya cyberattack is set to cost Maersk, the world's largest container ship and supply vessel operator, up to $300m in lost revenues.

The Danish transport and logistics conglomerate -- which has offices in 130 countries and almost 90,000 employees -- revealed predicted losses due to the ransomware infection in its second quarter financial report.
"In the last week of the quarter we were hit by a cyber attack, which mainly impacted Maersk Line, APM Terminals and Damco. Business volumes were negatively affected for a couple of weeks in July and as a consequence, our Q3 results will be impacted. We expect that the cyber-attack will impact results negatively by USD 200-300m," said AP Moller-Maersk Group CEO Søren Skou.

Maersk was one of the first high-profile victims of the Petya malware epidemic, which originated in Ukraine but spread to bring down IT systems around the world.

The company's interim report details how it reacted to the attack by immediately shutting down infected networks to contain the malware and prevent its spread. While Maersk's three container-related businesses were taken offline, its energy and other businesses were able to continue operating as normal....MORE
And from Reuters via CNBC, Aug. 16:
Fog lifting for Maersk as CEO gives upbeat shipping forecast
  • Denmark's A.P. Moller Maersk gave an upbeat outlook for container shipping on Wednesday.
  • Maersk has been hit by low oil prices at its energy arm and sliding prices in its shipping business in recent years.
  • Maersk reported a net loss stood of $264 million, compared with expectations for a $507 million net profit.
Denmark's A.P. Moller Maersk gave an upbeat outlook for container shipping on Wednesday, lifting its shares as investors looked beyond one-off second-quarter charges.

Maersk has been hit by low oil prices at its energy arm and sliding prices in its shipping business in recent years due to lackluster global trade and a glut of available ships for hire.

But its chief executive Soren Skou, who has staked his future on Maersk as a transport business, said the container shipping industry is showing signs of recovery this year as freight rates have picked up, while overcapacity is easing as orders for new vessels fall and existing ones are scrapped.

"Container shipping fundamentals are at their best since 2010," Skou told Reuters following Maersk's results....MORE
Another example of the turnaround, Last week Chinese shipbuilder Yangzijiang said their order book had hit $4 billion (Reuters via Nasdaq):

China's Yangzijiang Q2 profit jumps, shares hit 6-yr high
* Q2 net profit 719.9 mln yuan vs yr ago 415.4 mln
* Gross profit margin drops on lower contract prices
* Shares rise as much 8 pct to 6-yr high
(Adds chairman comments from briefing, updates share movement) 
SINGAPORE, Aug 8 (Reuters) - China'sYangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings Ltd reported a 73 percent increase in second-quarter net profit, helped by higher revenue from the construction of larger-size vessels, sending its shares to their highest in more than six years.

Yangzijiang posted a net profit 719.9 million yuan ($107.12 million) for the quarter ended June, boosted by one-off gains, compared with 415.4 million yuan in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 27 percent, it said in a statement late on Monday. Shares of the shipbuilder, which has a market value of about $4.5 billion, pared some gains to trade 4 percent higher after touching S$1.605 - their highest since June 2011. The stock has gained about 82 percent so far this year as of Monday's close. 
Yangzijiang, which builds a range of vessels including large container ships, bulk carriers and liquefied natural gas carriers, said its order book stood at $4 billion as of June 30....
...MORE