Pacific International Lines (PIL) of Singapore, once nearly doomed, is now top of the charts when it comes to operating margins among the world’s largest containerlines.
Describing the “renaissance” PIL has been through since its majority takeover by Singapore’s state-owned investment arm Temasek in 2021, analysts at Alphaliner have crunched the numbers on the company’s 2024 annual results, published last week later than its peers.
PIL managed total operating profits (EBIT) on container shipping activities of $1.3bn, after liner revenues nearly tripled year-on-year to $3.8bn. The resulting operating margin of 35.3% propels PIL to the top of the rankings for 2024 as a whole, above second place Evergreen Marine and the remaining publicly-reporting top carriers excluding privately-held MSC.
PIL ranks 12th in size globally, with a current fleet of 97 ships equal to 423,720 teu, according to Alphaliner data.
Moving from last year into Q1 2025, Alphaliner is reporting that the the average operating margin for the leading container carriers fell to its lowest level in four quarters, despite the front loading of cargo by American shippers.
Energy News Beat