Danish shipper A.P. Moller-Maersk reports an annual loss of $1.3 billion

Shipper A.P. Moller-Maersk posts annual loss

COPENHAGEN — Danish container shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S on Thursday reported an annual loss of 7.0 billion kroner ($1.3 billion), citing a drop in global shipments of goods amid the economic crisis.

The company made a net profit of 17 billion kroner a year earlier.

Revenue for 2009 dropped to 260 billion kroner ($47.73 billion) from 312 billion kroner a year earlier. The company does not release a quarter-by-quarter breakdown of its results.

The Copenhagen-based group said it had been “significantly negatively affected by the global economic crisis” in 2009.

Freight rates for the group’s container activities were 28 percent lower than in 2008, tanker rates also were substantially lower than and the average price of crude oil was 36 percent lower in 2009 than in 2008. The group’s share of oil and gas production was at the same level as in 2008.

“The loss is significant, but 2009 was an extraordinary year with historically low rates and low demand,” CEO Nils Smedegaard Andersen said. “We managed to limit the loss by saving around $2 billion and we will continue to strengthen our competitiveness even further.”

Smedegaard Andersen said he expected the group “to return to modest profits in 2010.”

The group said its full-year outlook for 2010 was still unclear, not least due to developments in the global economy.

Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen said the company had suffered from a collapse in the container business and that he doubted that A.P. Moller could make a profit in that segment this year.

Maersk shares fell nearly 4 percent to 42,160 kroner ($7,739) in Copenhagen.

The company, based in Copenhagen, employs 120,000 people in 130 countries.