More “Bad Boy” than “Big Blue” as prospects darken? Just as we got used to Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller as the cuddly face of corporatism, we now see that money talks loudest after all.
The Danish container giant has blazed a trail for the climate-friendly maritime business, quick to show its social responsibility with staff rewards when profits soared.
The mask of moderation seemed to slip in recent days as state-owned Danish broadcaster DR claimed Maersk had been privately lobbying to keep shipping out of the OECD tax regime it had previously endorsed.
The situation was made worse by claims the liner company had paid only 3% in tax compared with a normal corporate tax rate of 22% on record 2022 earnings of $30bn.
To reinforce its new aggressive image, Maersk launched what is believed to be a $40m legal claim against charterer Evergreen, owner Shoei Kisen and technical manager Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement over the 20,124-teu Ever Given (built 2018) blocking for six days in 2021 one of the world’s most important shipping arteries.
Maersk was unapologetic about the move, saying it reflected the fact that “Maersk suffered losses in connection with Ever Given blocking of the Suez Canal”.
Like other liner operators, the Danish company that has been basking in the glory of the past two years of freight rate largesse is becoming increasingly concerned about the future.
Headlines for the 2022 financial results glossed over a more ominous $1bn drop in the last three-month earnings of 2022 compared with the fourth quarter of the previous year.
Analysts at influential Norwegian finance house Fearnley Securities have just recommended investors sell their shares in the Copenhagen-based boxship operator.
Oystein Vaagen is expecting to see a 28% slump in quarter-on-quarter freight rates with Maersk suffering from an expected ongoing decline throughout the year.
Earlier this week, the Danes suspended a key transpacific service to the east coast of the US in anticipation of falling demand and started to sublet vessels.
Baptism of fire
So it was always going to be a baptism of fire for new chief executive Vincent Clerc, who stepped into the new role six weeks ago.
His predecessor, Soren Skou, timed his departure to perfection, taking the plaudits for rocketing returns and then leaving the bridge as storms gather.
At the handover, the two posed smiling in matching shirts and suits to symbolically highlight their desire for investors to see this as “business as usual”.
But the reality is the container market is faced with large amounts of new tonnage coming in just as the post-Covid lockdown boom and port congestion problems come to an end.
All this at a time when stock markets may be booming again but consumer spending is curtailed by high inflation and interest rates, plus mountainous energy costs.
Clerc has already started to change corporate direction by announcing he would ditch Maersk’s 2M alliance with MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company in a bid to further intensify its end-to-end logistics strategy.
Clerc was not in evidence when Maersk was forced to counter the accusations from the Danish broadcaster about its tax lobbying.
That was left to Mette Mellemgaard Jakobsen, the company’s head of tax affairs. She argued that meetings with the Danish government arose because of a “concrete concern” that the new rules could distort competition.
Looks a bit ‘strange’
This did not sit easily, however, with Skou’s comments to the same media in December that “we will live just fine with it [a new tax regime]”.
Mellemgaard Jakobsen did admit the 3% tax payment did look a bit “strange” but said this was partly because the record profits were the result of two “exceptional” years of a box boom.
It would be foolish to contend that Maersk like many other companies had never run into reputational problems in the past.
Only last year Maersk Line Ltd was tarnished by two sexual harassment cases involving women seafarers in the US.
Maersk’s image overall has been as good as it gets in a tough, rough business like shipping.
But as the freight markets turn, we may see Clerc do more of the “no more mister nice guy” stuff.
