Its net loss for the quarter ended December 31 was $2.51 billion compared with a profit of $189 million a year earlier, with analysts polled by FactSet expecting a profit of $305 million.
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“Given our expectation that the oil price will remain at a low level for a longer period, we have impaired the value of a number of Maersk Oil’s assets”, Maersk CEO Nils S. Andersen, said in a statement accompanying the report.
Looking ahead to 2016 Maersk said it expected its underlying full year result (excluding impairments) to be significantly under the $3.1bn in 2015.
Net profit, which was primarily impacted by the net impairments, ended up at 925 million dollars in 2015, down from the 5.2 billion dollar record net profit the company posted the year before. Exploration costs are expected to be in line with 2015 ($423 million).
“The freight rate decline was largely attributable to bunker price savings being passed through to customers and to deteriorating market conditions”, Maersk said in the report.
The surprising result for the group was rig owner and contractor Maersk Drilling which saw profits rise to $751m in 2015, up from $478m a year earlier. Revenue fell 15 percent in the full year to $40.3 billion.
Maersk Oil expects a negative underlying profit, while the terminal business forecast an underlying profit around the 2015 level.
APM Shipping Services expects the underlying result to be significantly below the 2015 result ($404 million) predominantly due to significantly lower rates and activity in Maersk Supply Service.
The Copenhagen-based group, which owns the world’s largest container shipping company and is in an important indicator of the health of global trade, has suffered from the ongoing slump in oil prices.
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The company’s shares fell further on Wednesday, they have lost half their value since April previous year.
