Business Sectors
Events
Contents
Register to read more articles.
Maersk posts record profit, acquires trucking services firm
AP Moller-Maersk continues its march towards becoming a power player in the B2C logistics segment, stating its intent to acquire Pilot Freight Services from private equity firm ATL Partners for US$1.68Bn
Pilot Freight Services is a trucking firm that specialises in big and bulky freight transport across North America where it operates a network of 87 stations and hubs. The company mainly uses third-party providers of trucking and facilitates first, middle and last mile service offering.
The combined Pilot and Maersk scale will offer customers nearly 150 facilities in the US including distribution centres, hubs and stations. The intended acquisition will help Maersk extend its integrated logistics offering deeper into the supply chain of its customers.
AP Moller-Maersk Ocean & Logistics chief executive Vincent Clerc said, “We continue our path to develop a truly integrated logistics offering for our customers, offering them better visibility, more control and resilience in their supply chains.”
“Adding the capabilities of Pilot is especially important because it will allow us to create more exciting solutions for our customers and support them through the acceleration of the migration towards e-commerce.”
The pandemic saw container lines enjoy record profits and quicken trends in the supply chain such as the increased shift towards e-commerce, especially for bulk cargo.
The deal coincides with Maersk posting record profits for 2021. Revenue was up 55% to US$ 61.8Bn, EBITDA tripled to US$24Bn and free cash flow was US$16.5Bn. The liner credited “exceptional market conditions”.
Maersk – among other ocean liners – has used the profits to invest in air freight and logistics acquiring six businesses across air, e-commerce, warehousing and fulfilment, and opening 85 new warehouses.
The company’s Board has proposed an ordinary dividend to shareholders of Dkr2,500 (US$383.93) per share of Dkr1,000 (US$153.57) a yield of 10.7% over the last year.
“As Maersk has significantly improved the financial performance and progressed on the strategic journey to become an end-to-end logistics company, we have also been able to increase returns to our shareholders. For 2021, the proposed dividend amounts to a truly exceptional Dkr47Bn (US$7.21Bn)” said Maersk chief executive Søren Skou.
In 2022, Maersk’s forecast suggests profits will continue through to Q2 2022 before normalising in the second half of the year. Guidance for underlying EBITDA in 2022 is US$24bn, the same level as reported for 2021.
Riviera Maritime Media will provide free technical and operational webinars in 2022. Sign up to attend on our events page
Related to this Story
Events
Maritime Regulations Webinar Week
16 Dec 2025
GMT - ONLINE
Floating energy: successfully unlocking stranded gas using FLNGs and FSRUs
24 Feb 2026GMT - ONLINE
© 2024 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd.
