COPENHAGEN: August 16, 2017. A.P. Moller-Maersk says the 'Not Petya' cyber attack that hit Maersk Line, APM Terminals and Damco at the end of June is expected to cost the logistics group US$200-US$300 million this year.

Group revenue for Q2 2017 rose 8.4 percent year-on-year to reach US$9.6 billion "mainly due to higher freight rates". Underlying profit increased 190 percent to US$369 million but post-tax impairments of US$732 million relating to Maersk Tankers and APM Terminals resulted in an overall loss of US$264 million.

"Maersk Line is again profitable delivering in line with guidance, with revenue growing by US$1billion year-on-year in the second quarter. The profit was US$490 million higher than the same quarter last year, based on higher rates," said group CEO Søren Skou.

Damco broke even in Q2 on a 2.0 percent increase in revenue to US$631 million. The company said the result reflected product investments and lower ocean margins, offset by supply chain management margins, airfreight growth and productivity improvements.

Company forwarding margins remained below last year due to "challenging market conditions" but expects improvements in the second half of the year due to better pricing processes and carrier management systems implementation.

A.P. Moller-Maersk is forecasting an underlying group profit above last year's result of US$711 million notwithstanding revenue losses from the cyber attack and the acquisition of Hamburg Süd. Capital expenditure is expected to be US$5.5 to US$6.5 billion in 2017.