Bollore bounce boosts CMA CGM Q2 revenues, but job worries persist

CMA CGM Group has announced a “robust performance” in the second quarter, with revenues up 6.8% to $13.1bn. But insiders say not all is well in parts of the group.

Ebitda was down 4.3% to $2.47bn, while net income fell $670m to $661m.

The group said the revenue rise was in part driven by logistics, which was bolstered by the Bollore Logistics integration.

Shipping volumes were up 6.8% to 6m teus. The group said: “The increase is due to buoyant world merchandise trade and demand for cargo shipping, led by sustained household consumption and continued inventory rebuilding, impacting Transpacific and Asia-Europe shipping lines among others.”

Revenues from shipping were $8.29bn, down 0.8% year-on-year. Ebitda was $2.5bn, down 4.3%, while ebitda margin was 32.9%, down 2.2 points. Average revenue per teu was $1,385 – down 7.1% on a year ago.

CMA said that geopolitical tensions “continued to impede the fluidity of global trade in the second quarter, creating congestion in certain regions. At the same time, volumes carried rose sharply compared with the same period in 2023, when US distributors began to draw down their inventories, but also compared with the first quarter of 2024.

“This is because growth in Western countries held firm, as did household consumption, while inflation slowed due to the impact of monetary policies.”

Logistics revenues – formerly mostly comprising Ceva – were skewed by the Bollore acquisition, and also helped by “good momentum in contract logistics, finished vehicle logistics and road haulage, especially in Europe”. Logistics revenues were $4.79bn, with ebitda at $450m, up 28.8%.

The group didn’t specify Ceva’s numbers, but one well-placed source told The Loadstar: “Ceva has never been very successful with sales globally to be honest. It really doesn’t win a lot of business, hence there is very little growth if any. In fact volumes were shrinking.”

Noting some customer losses, the insider added that they “are generally service failures, and a somewhat disjointed pricing approach between countries and global structures/teams.”

The source added that the integration of Bollore is proving challenging for staff needing to fight for their jobs.

Another, now former executive from the group, told The Loadstar: “It’s getting worse and worse. It all started with the acquisition of GEFCO, and politics just got worse and worse. The statement on job security; it’s worthless. They either push people to the exit, or pay them generously.

“There are way too many captains on a ship that’s hard to turn.”

Once again, CMA CGM did not reveal the financial results of its airline, CMA CGM Air Cargo. Those results are currently hidden in “other activities”, which include port terminals and media.

However, media is to be separated out into its own division, after the group completed the acquisition of Altice Media, the third-largest private media group in France and the leading French news channel. Last year it bought HIMA Group, which owns La Tribune.

A Ceva source added that things at Ceva under CMA’s ownership was initially OK, as CMA’s influence was “limited”.

But, the source added, it “went really south when CMA decided to play the role of airline”.

The source claimed: “They literally decided on a Wednesday to operate the A330s on Saturday, and expected them to be filled. It was horrendous.

“The whole market thought Ceva was getting better deals, which in fact wasn’t entirely true. Conditions were nuts and service very bad. You can’t decide overnight to operate and expect everybody to be ready within two days.”

Commenting on the Q2 results, Rodolphe Saadé, CEO, said: “Amid sustained demand, our group delivered a solid performance in the second quarter, with a dynamic shipping business and a growing logistics pillar.

“We were able to adapt by redeploying capacity in response to the operational challenges caused by major disruptions on the main shipping routes.

“The group has made key investments to accelerate the industry’s decarbonization by renewing and upgrading its fleet, and to pursue its digital transformation by leveraging artificial intelligence,” he added.