Rising container rates drove A.P. Moller-Maersk's operating profit above forecasts in the third quarter and the Danish oil and shipping group upped its full-year outlook, Reuters reports.
Chief Executive Nils Smedegaard Andersen cautioned rates could reverse for container division Maersk Line, which returned to profit in the previous quarter after four successive periods of losses caused by the global economic slowdown and an oversupply of vessels.
"I think one should be careful expecting that this is now very stable," Andersen said on Friday. "But so far we are happy that the price discipline has improved."
The group still expected a modest positive result in 2012 for Maersk Line, based on higher average rates in the second half.
But it downgraded growth estimates for seaborne container demand to 3 percent from 4 percent.
It raised its group net profit forecast for 2012 to $3.7 billion from "slightly above" last year's $3.4 billion result.
Group net profit jumped to $933 million from $371 billion in the same period last year, lagging an average forecast of $1.20 billion by analysts in a Reuters poll.
Maersk Line, a barometer of world trade as its fleet carries more than 15 percent of all seaborne containers, posted operating profit of $547 million compared with a loss of $255 million.
Maersk shares rose 0.9 percent by 0832 GMT, underperforming a 4.6 percent rise in the Copenhagen stock exchange's benchmark index which was flattered by a near 10 percent rise in the price of index heavyweight Novo Nordisk.
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