Damco, the freight forwarding arm of the AP Moller shipping, energy and transport group, reported a loss of US$8m in the first quarter of 2017. It blamed “significant margin pressure” and higher investments in product development.
Revenue was $612m with airfreight and ocean controlled volumes growing by 10% and 11%, respectively. Strong development seen especially on China- Benelux, China-US and China-Mexico lanes, where reported growth was 21%, 16% and 23%, respectively.
Nevertheless, the forwarding market remained challenging for Damco with carrier rate increases, although Damco is aiming to improve through its Twill e-platform.
