CMA CGM: quarterly turnover increases by 31%

The shipping and media group CMA CGM (owner of La Tribune, editor's note) saw its turnover jump 31% in the 3rd quarter, to $18.4 billion, driven by vigorous growth in global trade despite geopolitical tensions and the energy shock.

From July to September, the shipowner also saw its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (ebitda) increase by 61% to 4.78 billion dollars (compared to 2.95 billion a year earlier), indicates a press release on Friday.

Maritime volumes transported on board the container ships of the third largest shipowner in the world increased by 5.5% compared to the equivalent quarter of last year, the press release indicates.

The group, which rails against the exceptional surcharge that it must pay in the 2027 draft budget and which had warned in March against the great uncertainties threatening to plague global maritime transport in 2026, found itself on Friday dissecting the reasons for its sudden and unexpected surge in activity.

He highlights three factors: first, "the precautionary behavior of companies" which are replenishing their stocks, then "investment in infrastructure linked to artificial intelligence and data centers", and finally "the rise of clean technologies and electric vehicles" exported by China to other continents.

“Despite the ongoing multifaceted crisis – conflicts, oil, customs duties – certain companies, particularly in the United States, have undertaken to replenish their stocks since the 2nd quarter, this is precautionary behavior,” underlines a source close to the shipowner.

“AI travels and the development of data centers helps fill ships” adds this source, because their construction requires a lot of industrial components.

By activity, the largest increase came from the maritime sector, with turnover up 37.3% to $12.32 billion. Logistics saw its sales increase by 19.2% to $4.58 billion, driven by the effects of the acquisition of Borusan in Turkey in 2025, of the Italian Faggioli, as well as that of the companies in the Fattal distribution network in the Middle East, renamed Tamina.

The other activities, which include air freight as well as port terminals and media, saw their turnover for the quarter increase by 27% to $1.51 billion, driven mainly by a good performance in "terminal activities", notably that of Santos in Brazil, or air cargo activities. CMA CGM owns and operates eight cargo aircraft.

Machine-translated from French