DANISH shipping giant Maersk, the world largest container carrier, said its second quarter results will be better than its first.

Group operating profit (EBITDA) before restructuring and integration costs for Q2 will be slightly above Q1, which came in at US$1.5 billion.

Market demand in the second quarter is developing more favourably than originally expected. Maersk now anticipates declines of 15-18 per cent for Q2 compared to the intial guidance of 20-25 per cent.

But full-year guidance on earnings remains suspended given the uncertainty on demand recovery in the second half as economies are still impacted by Covid-19.

Said Maersk group CEO Soren Skou: "We have been able to navigate well in a very difficult second quarter, adjusting capacity to demand to maintain high utilisation of our network and managing our cost across the company. We also delivered year-on-year earnings growth despite five per cent lower demand and sharply increasing fuel costs as a result of the switch to low-sulphur fuel on January 1."