Boxes lift Maersk's Q1 profit 62%

[COPENHAGEN] Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moeller-Maersk reported yesterday a 62 per cent rise in quarterly profit as it shipped more containers but for a lower average price.

Net profit for the group rose in the first three months of the year to US$1.15 billion from US$710 million, beating a Dow Jones analyst consensus of US$1.05 billion, as earnings from container shipping line Maersk Line more than doubled to US$454 million.

Revenues climbed 0.9 per cent to US$11.736 billion, falling slightly short of an analyst consensus of US$12 billion.