Profits at container shipping giant Maersk sink on global trade slowdown

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Profits at the world’s biggest container shipping company will be lower than predicted as a slowdown in global trade hits business.

AP Moller-Maersk said ‘market conditions world-wide have been weaker than expected’ and warned there will be ‘no market recovery within 2015’.

The Danish shipping giant, a closely watched barometer of global trade, slashed its profits forecasts for the year from £2.6billion to £2.2billion.

Stormy waters: Maersk said the effect on the company had been particularly pronounced since the summer 

Its chief executive Nils Andersen said: ‘The current deterioration in the container shipping market is impacting our business.’

Maersk said the effect on the company had been particularly pronounced since the summer – coinciding with the slowdown in the Chinese economy and worries about emerging markets.

The People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, yesterday cut interest rates for a sixth time since November in a bid to kick start the economy. It came just days after official figures showed the Chinese economy grew at an annual rate of 6.9pc in the third quarter of the year – the weakest performance since early 2009 during the depths of the global recession.

The rate cut in China followed a clear hint from the European Central Bank that it is planning more action to stave off deflation and boost growth in the eurozone.

On Thursday, ECB president Mario Draghi said the moribund single currency bloc may need a fresh round of stimulus before the end of year as the global slowdown threatens the fragile recovery.