Marseilles, February 25th, 2011 -- The Board of Directors of France-based CMA CGM, the world’s third largest container shipping group, met under the chairmanship of Jacques R. Saadé to review the financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2010.

The Group reported revenue of US$14.3 billion for the year, a 36% increase on 2009 that was led by the combined impact of higher volumes carried and improved freight rates. In all, more than nine million TEUs* were carried during the year, up 15% on 2009. With capacity increased by 17.7% and representing 8.6% of worldwide capacity at year-end, CMA CGM has consolidated its leadership in the global container shipping industry.

The strong growth in business was accompanied by the sustained deployment of the cost control programmes initiated in 2009, which helped to limit growth in operating expenses to 4% in 2010.

EBITDA stood at US$2,516 million for the year, yielding an EBITDA margin of 17.6%, one of the industry’s highest.

Consolidated net profit ended the year at US$1,627 million.

KEY FIGURES

2008 2009 2010
Revenue in US$ billion 15.1 10.5 14.3
EBITDA in US$ million
1,261
(667)
2,516

Net profit/(loss) in US$ million
124
(1,425)**
1627

Volumes carried in TEU* 8,662,000 7,882,000 9,041,000
Number of vessels
Owned by CMA CGM 395
98 352
85 396
91
Fleet capacity in TEU* 1,024,000 1,040,000 1,224,000
Share of worldwide shipping capacity (%) 7.6 7.5
8.6
Container fleet in TEU* 1,757,000 1,705,000 1,856,000
*Twenty-foot equivalent units
**Of which USD 548 million in non-recurring expenses

All of the markets saw strong growth during the year. The Asia-Europe and intra-Asia lines enjoyed record business, while the Asia-USA lines have now returned to pre-recession levels after having been severely impacted by the fall-off in world trade.

In 2010, the Group further enhanced its fleet capabilities by taking delivery of 20 new containerships, of which 12 are owned (including eight with over 11,000-TEU capacity). With 396 vessels, of which 91 owned, CMA CGM is today one of the leading global shipping companies with an ultra-modern fleet, enabling it to achieve extensive economies of scale and optimise customer service.

Rodolphe Saadé, Executive Officer of CMA CGM Group, said: "The excellent results reported by the Group were driven by the strategy introduced in 2009 and pursued in 2010. They effectively demonstrate the strength of our business model, as the Group successfully capitalised on the upturn in world trade during the year."

Outlook for 2011

After reporting record results in 2010, CMA CGM expects to return to normalised profitability levels in 2011.

Rodolphe Saadé added "The Group will continue to expand during 2011. The issue of $500 million in redeemable bonds to the Yildirim Group, being now finalised, CMA CGM enjoys a stronger financial position that it intends to consolidate, in particular by diversifying its sources of financing".

It will also continue to benefit from the cost-saving plan introduced in 2009, which is focused on an active commitment to cost control