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Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos has sold nearly 12 mn shares in the e-commerce outfit he founded, in a transaction valued at USD 2 bn, Reuters reports, citing a Friday company filing. Bezos intends to offload 50 mn shares in Amazon, the newswire added, citing a company statement last week.
A.P. Moller-Maersk delivered strong financial results for 2023, making revenues of USD 51.1 bn, according to its earnings release published on Thursday. Although the company’s volumes increased across most of its products, rates, especially ocean rates, continued to drop amid challenging market conditions. “The current market remains one of robust volumes, but while the Red Sea crisis has caused immediate capacity constraints and a temporary increase in rates, eventually the oversupply in shipping capacity will lead to price pressure and impact our results,” CEO Vincent Clerc said. The uncertainty with regards to the duration and degree of the Red Sea disruption was reflected in the 1Q and FY guidance range.
ALSO-Maersk is weighing plans to acquire Deutsche Bahn logistics’ arm DB Schenker, which was put up for sale in 2023, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing comments made by Clerc on an investor call. “It would not be responsible of us not to look into it,” Clerc said, noting that whether or not Maersk chooses to go ahead with the transaction, its effects will result in changes to the logistics “landscape.”
German state-owned bank KfW has sold some 50 mn shares of its stake in DHL for EUR 2.17 bn, as the German government pursues plans to offload shares in companies to finance upgrades to its railways via state-owned rail operator Deutsche Bahn, Reuters reported last week. KfW’s stake in DHL has declined to about 16.5% from 20.5%, but the bank remains DHL’s largest shareholder, the newswire said. The German government is planning to raise some EUR 4 bn by selling its holdings in companies, the newswire said citing finance ministry documents it had seen.
The Panama Canal does not plan to impose further vessel transit restrictions until April, Deputy Administrator Ilya Espino told Reuters last week. If rain levels arrive as expected in May, the authority plans to lift the 24 authorized transits per day cap and gradually increase daily slots to its traditional 36 transits per day, Espino said.
OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-
- World’s biggest container maker cashing in on hydrogen:China International Marine Containers Group, the largest manufacturer of shipping containers in the world, saw a jump in revenues to CNY 1 bn last year from its hydrogen business, indicating that the green fuel is gaining steam commercially. (Bloomberg)
