DENMARK's Maersk Line has posted a third quarter 2013 profit of US$554 million, up 11.2 per cent from the $498 million recorded over the same period the previous year.

The improvement in profit was achieved through heavy cost cutting and double-digit growth in container volumes despite 12.2 per cent lower freight rates to $2,654 per 40-foot container that reduced revenue by 2.6 per cent to $6.78 billion.

The shipping line's strong third quarter pushed earnings for the first nine months of the year to $1.2 billion, compared to $126 million last year.

Maersk Line's volumes in the third quarter rose by 10.6 per cent compared to the third quarter a year earlier to 4.6 million TEU, up from 4.2 million TEU.

With higher volumes and an average deployed fleet capacity decline of 0.8 per cent, vessel utilisation improved and resulted in a 13 per cent drop in unit costs to $2,622 per 40-foot container from $3,012 last year. An 8 per cent reduction in fuel consumption and a 17 per cent drop in bunker prices also helped lower unit costs.

Maersk Line said it expects the full-year result to be 'significantly' above the $461 million profit made in 2012.

"We are very satisfied with the operational result which is a consequence of strong performances in most businesses. APM Terminals delivers strong underlying profit and Maersk Line continues industry leadership on profitability, however Q4 has started with low freight rates which are expected to affect the fourth quarter result," says group CEO Nils Andersen.

Parent A.P. Moller-Maersk delivered a third quarter profit of US$1.2 billion up from $934 million a year earlier with improvements also seen in APM Terminals and Maersk Drilling.

The group said its "revenue decreased slightly by $81 million impacted by lower average container freight rates and lower oil entitlement production partly offset by higher container volumes."

APM Terminals recorded a third quarter profit of $203 million on 4 per cent higher volumes compared to same quarter last year.

The jointly owned Brasil Terminal Portuario in Santos, Brazil commenced operations during the reporting period. Operations remain limited while dredging work is under completion by the port authorities. The company said it expects to ramp up volumes over the coming months.

The group has revised its forecast earnings for the whole of 2013 to $3.5 billion, up from $3.3 billion previously.