Shipping and oil giant Maersk’s chief executive speaks out about rocky economic outlook
There are choppy waters ahead for the economy, said Nils Smedegaard Andersen, chief executive at A.P. Moeller-Maersk, who voiced his concerns about the financial outlook this morning.
Bloomberg reported that Andersen said Maersk is less than optimistic about global growth.
“We conduct a string of our own macro-economic forecasts and we see less growth – particularly in developing nations, but perhaps also in Europe – than other people expect in 2015,” said the shipping and oil giant's CEO.
He was also less than optimistic about 2016: “We’re a little bit more pessimistic than most forecasters," he said.
Last Friday, the company revealed its net profits for the third quarter of 2015 had been slashed almost in half to $778m (£515m), compared to $1.5bn the year before.
And, on the Wednesday before the third quarter results were published, Maersk Line, the company’s shipping division, announced it will cut at least 4,000 jobs and cancel previous plans to purchase six additional ships.