Maersk posts heavy loss in 2016

AFP, STOCKHOLM: Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk registered a heavy loss in 2016 due to write-downs in its oil services division, the company said, as it announced the chairman would step down. 
Maersk booked $2.7 billion (2.5 billion euros) of write-downs in the fourth quarter for its subsidiaries Maersk Supply Service and Maersk Drilling “as a consequence of an expected weaker outlook.”
The group’s strategy has long been to have a balance between shipping, which benefits from low oil prices, and oil production, which is profitable when oil prices are high. But the business model has been battered in recent years, as both oil and shipping prices have been low.
“2016 was a difficult year, with headwinds in all our markets,” it said in a statement.
The net loss amounted to $1.94 billion, compared to a profit of $791 million in 2015. Sales fell by 12 per cent to $35.46 billion.
On the Copenhagen Stock Exchange the Maersk share took a beating, shedding 3.52 per cent at 0925 GMT on a relatively flat market. 

Maersk posts heavy loss in 2016

AFP, STOCKHOLM: Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk registered a heavy loss in 2016 due to write-downs in its oil services division, the company said, as it announced the chairman would step down. Maersk booked $2.7 billion (2.5 billion euros) of write-downs in the fourth quarter for its subsidiaries Maersk Supply Service and Maersk Drilling as a consequence of an expected weaker outlook. The groups strategy has long been to have a balance between shipping, which benefits from low oil prices, and oil production, which is profitable when oil prices are high. But the business model has been battered in recent years, as both oil and shipping prices have been low. 2016 was a difficult year, with headwinds in all our markets, it said in a statement. The net loss amounted to $1.94 billion, compared to a profit of $791 million in2015. Sales fell by 12 per cent to $35.46 billion. On the Copenhagen Stock Exchange the Maersk share took a beating, shedding 3.52 per cent at 0925 GMT on a relatively flat market.