CMA CGM, the world's third largest container shipping company, on Friday reported it swung to a net profit of US$1.63bn in 2010 from a loss of US$1.43bn a year earlier.
The French company, which saw its revenues surge by 36 per cent in 2010 over the prior year to US$14.3bn, said it expects to see a return to 'normalised profitability levels' in 2011.
'The Asia-Europe and intra-Asia lines enjoyed record business, while the Asia-US lines have now returned to pre-recession levels after having been severely impacted by the fall off in world trade,' the company said in a statement.
Marseilles-based CMA CGM attributed its surge in revenue to the combined impact of higher volumes carried and improved freight rates.
The company shipped over 9m containers during 2010, up 15 per cent on 2009.
In 2010, the group took delivery of 20 new containerships, of which 12 are owned (including eight with over 11,000-TEU capacity).
Rodolphe Saadé, CMA CGM executive officer said: 'The excellent results reported by the group .. effectively demonstrate the strength of our business model. The group will continue to expand during 2011.'
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