CMA CGM Reports Strong Performance Amid Shipping Recovery

French shipping group CMA CGM has reported $567 million in profit in the third quarter of 2020 amid a “marked recovery” in container volumes.

CMA CGM’s Board of Directors met Friday to review the financial statements for the third quarter of 2020.

“The third quarter business activities saw a marked recovery in demand for transportation of goods, following the scaling back triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic during the first half of the year,” CMA CGM said in a statement.

Group revenue was up by more than 6% during the third quarter of 2020 compared with the third quarter of 2019, reaching a level of USD 8.1 billion. Meanwhile, net Income grew to USD 567 million, compared with USD 45 million during the third quarter of 2019 and USD 136 million during the second quarter of 2020. Strong performance helped boost operating cash flow to over $1.8 billion, up more than $814 million from the third quarter of 2019.

EBITDA also improved to $1.7 billion, representing a 68% increase compared with the third quarter of 2019.

“In a favorable market environment for our industry, the Group reported very strong financial and operating performances due to the full commitment of its teams,” said Rodolphe Saadé, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group. “Our shipping activity has seen a significant increase in volumes transported compared to the second quarter of 2020, and CEVA’s transformation plan starts to bear fruit. This crisis has also demonstrated the solidity of our business model and demonstrated the relevance of our strategy, combining logistics solutions with transport offering. In a context of strong demand for the coming months, we will continue to respond with agility to the needs of our customers.”

CMA CGM noted that a highlight from the quarter was delivery of its new flagship, the LNG-powered CMA CGM Jacques Saade, and rolling out its plan to expand its LNG-powered fleet to 26 vessels by 2022.