"If we look at a comparable set of shipping lines from 2012 onwards i.e., minus CMA CGM since they don't have a Q1 2025 figure, and minus ONE since they don't have historical reference points, Q1 2025 EBIT of US$5.67 billion, although significantly lower than the 2021-2022 pandemic period, is almost on par with the Q1 2023 EBIT, and higher than the combined EBIT of the remaining years (2012-2020 & 2024)," Alan Murphy, CEO, Sea-Intelligence, said.
Figure 1 shows the EBIT/TEU of the shipping lines that report on both their EBIT and global volumes on an annual basis. [Source: Sea-Intelligence]
The report said ONE (US$73/TEU) is the only shipping line with a Q1 2025 EBIT/TEU of under US$100/TEU, with the remaining lines all recording EBIT/TEU between US$146/TEU (Hapag-Lloyd) and US$492/TEU (ZIM).
It added that HMM, US$447/TEU, was meanwhile the only other shipping line with EBIT/TEU of over US$400/TEU.
Sea-Intelligence said strong volume growth was also recorded on a global level, while some shipping lines recorded exceptional volume growth on the Transpacific and Asia-Europe.
Major ocean carriers experienced a significant drop in profitability in 2024, yet the figure remains well above the pre-Covid years. Sea-Intelligence said major shipping lines (that report on – and have so far published – their financial figures) have recorded a combined EBIT of US$27.3 billion for FY 2024.
In comparison, the combined EDIT for 2021 and 2022 across the same shipping line was nearly US$200 billion.
