APM TERMINALS, Maersk's port operator, handled 7.8 million TEU globally in the first quarter, up two per cent year on year with non-Maersk business accounting for 46 per cent, an improvement of 42 per cent over last year.

    Nils Andersen, CEO of parent company AP Moller-Maersk Group, said the positive performance in the first quarter was due to "continuing efficiency gains and cost reductions".

    First quarter turnover remained flat at US$1.06 billion, but pre-tax profit was up 14 per cent year on year to $248 million, providing a net profit of $139 million, a 22 per cent increase year on year.

    During the first quarter, the port of Monrovia in Liberia, which commenced operations as a wholly-owned concession of APM Terminals in February, and the Cai Mep International Terminal that opened in March in Vietnam, were added to the APM Terminals' portfolio.

    The company also acquired during the period under review a majority shareholding in sea port Poti, on Georgia's Black Sea Coast, reported London's International Freighting Weekly, adding that the company was also awarded the concessions to operate the new Moin Container Terminal on the east coast of Costa Rica and Terminal Muelle Norte at Peru's leading port of Callao.
 

(Source:http://www.schednet.com)