Financials and projections point to a strong 2022
A.P. Moller-Maersk delivered record earnings for 2021, which was an exceptional year with focus on mitigating supply chain risks for customers while strengthening the integrated logistics offering, the company said in a press statement.
In 2021, revenue was up 55pct. to US$ 61.8bn, EBITDA tripled to US$ 24bn and free cash flow was US$ 16.5bn, allowing the company to make strategic long-term investments into decarbonisation and logistics growth, combined with strong cash distribution to shareholders.
“Exceptional market conditions led to record-high growth and profitability in AP Moller-Maersk, however it also led to supply chain disruptions and severe challenges for our customers. We spent tremendous efforts in mitigating bottlenecks by expanding capacity across Ocean, improving productivity in Terminals and growing our global logistics footprint,” commented Søren Skou, CEO, AP Moller-Maersk.
The company continued to strengthen its Logistics & Services business throughout 2021, outperforming the market growth with a revenue increase of 41pct. to US$ 9.8bn, whereof 62pct. of the 34pct. organic growth came from cross selling to our Top 200 Ocean customers.
Acquisition
Furthermore, six businesses were acquired within air, e-commerce, warehousing and fulfillment, and 85 new warehouses opened, improving capabilities and footprint across the product portfolio.
Within Ocean, profitability increased substantially with a revenue of US$ 48.2bn in 2021, compared to US$ 29.2bn previous year, driven by high freight rates due to the ongoing impact from the pandemic that has resulted in disruptions of global supply chains.
To increase predictability and reliability, capacity was increased both for equipment and vessels, and significant effort was made to prioritise contracted volumes, with long-term contracts now representing 65pct., up from 50pct. a year ago.
Also in Terminals, profitability continued to grow in 2021 driven by strong volumes performance and storage income. With a focus on increased efficiency, utilisation and improving quality through digitisation and automation, return on invested capital (ROIC) increased to 10.9pct. which is above the target of minimum 9pct. During the year, the use of digital solutions and services grew significantly, with turnover on Maersk.com reaching USD 38bn. Traffic increased 15pct. as customers continued to adopt digital solutions even further. Also, bookings via mobile app increased more than 15-fold.
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