Shipping group CMA CGM posts strong Q2 profit

French shipping group CMA CGM posted on Thursday a near 60-percent jump in second-quarter profits compared with last year, mainly boosted by the sales of a stake in a port operator. The group, the world's third-biggest container shipping firm which is recovering from financial problems, said it made a net profit of $268 million (200 million euros) in the three-month period. For the first half of the year, the company bounced back into the black by reporting a profit of 364 million euros from a previous loss of 79 million euros in the same six months last year. The company stood by its target of achieving a "positive result" for the full year 2013. The quarterly result was flattered by the divestment of its 49-percent stake in port operator Terminal Link. Although sales fell by 2.4 percent in the quarter, to $4.0 billion because of a fall in average freight rates, transport volumes soared 6.9 percent to 2.9 billion standard-sized containers (TEU). The Marseille-based group, which has suffered three years of severe financial strains, recently underwent an overhaul of its financial structure. In June this year, the government-founded strategic investment fund (FSI) injected $150 million to help it back on its feet through mandatory convertible bonds. In its outlook for the third quarter, the company said it expected to deliver an improved operating performance by keeping a firm control of costs as well as freight rates. In June, CMA CGM, Maersk Line of Denmark and Swiss MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company also announced an alliance on three crucial shipping routes -- Asia-Europe, Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic -- in a strategy to face over-capacity and a declining demand for transportation. On Thursday, CMA CGM said that the alliance was expected to take effect in the spring of 2014.