Record profits for Maersk prompts $5bn share buyback
Danish containership giant, Maersk, has launched a share buyback as its earnings soar on the back of booming boxship markets
Denmark’s AP Moller-Maersk is using its huge profits to buy back more of its shares. The container giant’s earnings hit a record $2.7bn for the first quarter and the company said it will now repurchase stock worth $5bn over the next two years.
The move is “supported by the strong earnings and free cash flow generation seen in both 2020 and 2021”, Maersk said.
“The share buyback is carried out with the primary purpose to adjust the capital structure of [Maersk] and secondly to meet obligations under long-term incentive programmes,” the company added.
The group will now repurchase the remaining DKK 6.7bn of shares from the DKK 10bn buyback by this September, instead of March 2022, and then start the new one, which represents more than 10% of its market cap.
