Box ship giant plows through disruption to profit

Diversification pays off

CMA CGM splashes cash in the pursuit of diversification. When tariffs threw shipping into turmoil this year, it was able to negotiate a difficult situation because it straddles land and sea. As Mr Saadé told shareholders: “These results highlight the relevance of our diversification strategy across terminals, logistics and air freight”, citing the ability to come up with quick, global, operational solutions.

Inevitably though, the disruptions did take a financial toll. In what the group described as a “resilient performance”, revenues crept up by just 0.3% to US$13.16Bn in Q2 2025 and ebitda fell by nearly 8% to US$2.8Bn in a period “heavily marked by geopolitical conflicts and trade tensions, particularly between the United States and its main trading partners,” not to mention warfare in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The latest financial report highlights the growing importance of CMA CGM’s logistics business. While shipping held reasonably steady at volumes carried of nearly 6Bn TEU and revenue slipped slightly to US$8.16Bn, revenues in its logistics sector were more than half those of shipping, at US$4.6Bn, and ebitda actually improved, albeit by just 2%, to US$459M. According to the report, this was mainly on account of “strong momentum in contracted logistics”. At nearly 10%, logistics’ margins were generous;

diversification clearly pays. Revenues of CMA CGM’s “other activities” – port terminals, air cargo and CMA Media (more later) – soared by nearly 63% to US$1Bn. But the big number there is ebitda, which jumped to nearly US$240M, nearly five times the equivalent quarter in 2024, with a fat margin of 23%.

Mr Saadé had predicted exactly this in 2023, four years after buying CEVA: “Logistics is proving more resilient and accounts for a significant part of our business. Our group now stands on two solid pillars, which will enable us to weather cyclical changes more efficiently.”  

Shuffling ships

As of late 2025, it seems CMA CGM has adroitly escaped the port surcharges imposed by the US on Chinese-owned and built ships. During the 180-day grace period between the US Trade Representative’s announcement and their application, it made a series of fleet and operational adjustments that means, management says, “CMA CGM does not plan to implement a surcharge at this time to cover USTR-related fees as currently structured” while maintaining its services into “all scheduled US ports”.

The French group is used to shuffling its ships almost on a daily basis to put them where they are needed. In late-2025 alone it launched new routes or boosted existing ones all over the world.

Virtuous shipping

As routes expand, emissions shrink. CMA CGM is backing the chairman and chief executive’s dream of running an emissions-free fleet by 2050 with the launch of a new generation of dual-fuel ships. Four LNG-powered 8,000-TEU, French-flagged ships entered service through early 2025, with two more due before the end of the year. Three methanol-fuelled vessels were also deployed, the 13,000-TEU Argon, Iron and Cobalt while two LNG-powered giants, the 23,000-TEU Seine and Saint Germain also started paying back their building costs.

“CMA CGM expects to count at least 162 vessels in its dual-fuel fleet”

In just three years’ time CMA CGM expects to count “at least 162 vessels in its dual-fuel fleet” that are designed to run on emerging green fuels such as bio-methane, e-methane and green methanol. To speed up this race to virtuous shipping, CMA CGM has joint-ventured with TotalEnergies on the construction of a 20,000-m3 LNG bunkering vessel that will be anchored in Rotterdam.

Family business

The company was founded 47 years ago by the late Jacques Saadé, father of the current chairman and chief executive, Rodolphe Saadé, who jointly runs the group with his sister, Tanya, brother Jacques Jnr and mother Naila. They all find time to leverage CMA CGM’s vast enterprise for many non-profit partnerships, such as with the World Wildlife Fund, the free transport of goods for the Red Cross, UNICEF and other humanitarian organisations.