Maersk Suspended Its Share Buyback Program amid Red Sea Disruptions

Maersk noted the uncertainty in the 2024 earnings and expected them to be well below last year’s level. (The company’s website)
Maersk noted the uncertainty in the 2024 earnings and expected them to be well below last year’s level. (The company’s website)
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Maersk Suspended Its Share Buyback Program amid Red Sea Disruptions

Maersk noted the uncertainty in the 2024 earnings and expected them to be well below last year’s level. (The company’s website)
Maersk noted the uncertainty in the 2024 earnings and expected them to be well below last year’s level. (The company’s website)

Danish shipping and logistics company Maersk on Thursday reported fourth-quarter profits below expectations and said it expects 2024 earnings well below last year's level amid an oversupply of container vessels although uncertainty remains around the impact of Red Sea disruptions.

Maersk suspended its share buyback program amid this uncertainty.

Maersk said it expected underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of between $1 billion and $6 billion this year, compared with the $9.6 billion achieved last year, according to Reuters.

"High uncertainty remains around the duration and degree of the Red Sea disruption with the duration from one quarter to full year reflected in the guidance range," it said in a statement.

Maersk said EBITDA dropped to $839 million in the fourth quarter from $6.54 billion a year earlier, lagging analysts' expectations of $1.13 billion.

“The impact of this situation is causing new uncertainty for how this is going to play out from an earnings perspective throughout the year,” CEO Vincent Clerc told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe.”

“We have very little visibility as to whether this is a situation that will resolve in a matter of weeks or months, or whether this is something that is going to be with us for the full year,” he added.

In a statement, the company added that its board had decided to “immediately suspend the share buy-back program, with a re-initiation to be reviewed once market conditions in Ocean [division] have settled.”

The global supply chains have faced dangerous disruption since the end of 2023 after the giant shipping companies detoured their trips away from the Red Sea after a series of Houthis attacks.



Greece's 2024 Central Government Surplus Exceeds Target

A view of the port of the tiny Greek island of Kastellorizo, officially Megisti, the most southeastern inhabited Greek island in the Dodecanese. (AFP)
A view of the port of the tiny Greek island of Kastellorizo, officially Megisti, the most southeastern inhabited Greek island in the Dodecanese. (AFP)
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Greece's 2024 Central Government Surplus Exceeds Target

A view of the port of the tiny Greek island of Kastellorizo, officially Megisti, the most southeastern inhabited Greek island in the Dodecanese. (AFP)
A view of the port of the tiny Greek island of Kastellorizo, officially Megisti, the most southeastern inhabited Greek island in the Dodecanese. (AFP)

Greece's central government primary surplus reached 3.5% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) last year, well above the government's target, the outgoing finance minister said on Saturday.
The latest government estimate was for a primary surplus, which excludes debt-servicing costs, of 2.5% of GDP, Reuters reported.
Greece, which almost went bankrupt in the last decade, needs to achieve primary surpluses in coming years to keep its huge debt viable.
"In a month from now, when the final figures come out, you will see a primary surplus of about 3.5% of GDP, but also a fiscal surplus of 0.2%," said Kostis Haztzidakis, welcoming the new finance minister, Kyriakos Pierrakakis.
On Friday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis named new finance and transport ministers in a reshuffle designed to shore up support for his government after mass protests over a 2023 train crash.