IN Brief:
- Group revenue rose 20% to US$15.8 billion as Ocean volumes and rates strengthened.
- Loaded Ocean volumes increased 4.1%, driven by Asian exports, while Logistics & Services revenue rose 15%.
- Full-year underlying EBITDA guidance increased to US$10.5–12.5 billion, with freight rates remaining the largest earnings sensitivity.
Maersk has raised its full-year 2026 guidance after stronger Asian exports, higher ocean freight rates, and growth across its logistics businesses lifted second-quarter revenue and earnings.
Group revenue increased 20% year on year to US$15.8 billion, from US$13.1 billion. EBITDA rose to US$3.0 billion from US$2.3 billion, while EBIT increased to US$1.6 billion from US$845 million, taking the group EBIT margin to 10.0%.
Ocean delivered the largest improvement. Revenue rose 23%, loaded volumes increased 4.1%, and the average loaded freight rate was 22% higher, with Maersk attributing the volume increase to Asian exports. Vessel utilisation remained at 96%, while unit cost at fixed energy fell 0.8% as higher volumes offset part of the rise in operating costs.
Trade flows remained uneven through the quarter. Imports into Africa, North America, and Latin America grew particularly strongly, supported by exports from the Far East, especially China, while disruption around the Strait of Hormuz redirected Gulf-bound cargo towards alternative ports and inland routes.
Ocean earnings rebound as congestion spreads
Ocean EBIT reached US$935 million, up from US$229 million a year earlier and reversing the US$192 million loss recorded in the first quarter of 2026. Spot rates increased as demand, imbalanced trade flows, tight effective capacity, and congestion combined across Europe, the Middle East, the east coast of South America, and West Africa.
Those conditions also fed into Maersk’s landside businesses. Logistics & Services revenue increased 15% year on year and 11% sequentially, while its EBIT margin improved to 5.1%. Landside operations led the growth, supported by Gulf landbridge services, where Maersk has been moving cargo between ports by road and rail to maintain regional flows around disrupted maritime corridors.
Forwarding benefited from higher air freight and project logistics volumes, and Solutions recorded a favourable mix of new and existing contracts. Logistics & Services EBIT increased to US$217 million from US$175 million a year earlier and US$173 million in the first quarter.
Terminals added further growth. Revenue increased 11%, supported by a 7.1% increase in revenue per move and 2.2% volume growth, while EBIT was US$458 million against US$461 million a year earlier. Higher storage revenue and stronger underlying performance offset the impact of Middle East disruption.
Maersk is also putting capital into the infrastructure behind those flows. APM Terminals inaugurated a US$350 million terminal at Suape in Brazil, described by the group as the first fully electrified container terminal in South America, alongside a new distribution and warehousing facility. In Vietnam, APM Terminals and Hateco Group agreed with Da Nang City to build and operate the Lien Chieu Container Terminal, representing an investment of more than US$1.7 billion.
Freight rates remain the main earnings lever
The stronger quarter has prompted a substantial change to Maersk’s 2026 outlook. Underlying EBITDA guidance is now US$10.5 billion to US$12.5 billion, up from US$8 billion to US$10 billion, while underlying EBIT guidance has risen to US$4.5 billion to US$6.5 billion from US$2 billion to US$4 billion. Free cash flow is now expected to be above zero rather than at least negative US$1.5 billion.
The guidance assumes global container market volume growth of around 4% for the full year. That provides a firmer demand base, but Maersk’s own sensitivity analysis shows that freight pricing remains the larger financial variable.
A US$100 change in container freight rate per FFE is estimated to move full-year EBIT by about US$0.7 billion. By comparison, a 100,000 FFE change in volume is estimated to move EBIT by around US$0.01 billion, while a US$100 change in bunker price per fuel-oil-equivalent tonne is estimated at US$0.1 billion.
At 96% vessel utilisation, Maersk has little spare operating headroom inside the existing Ocean network when schedules are disrupted. Extra cargo can still be carried through better utilisation, redeployment, and network changes, but prolonged port delays remove effective capacity from later sailings. That helps explain why the company can record both volume growth and higher unit revenue while customers face slower landside flows.
The Q2 result combines genuine volume growth with a market still shaped heavily by disruption. Far East exports are putting more cargo into the network, but congestion and constrained effective capacity are also lifting rates and storage revenue. If those bottlenecks ease, the balance between underlying demand growth and the much larger freight-rate sensitivity will become more exposed in the second half.
