A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S has lowered its profit forecast for 2018 due to increasing uncertainties on the market, such as geopolitical risks, climbing bunker prices, and trade tensions, which are likely to weigh on freight rates.

Specifically, Maersk forecasts its EBITDA to range from US$3.5 billion to US$4.2 billion. The previous expectation was from US$4 billion to US$5 billion.  

The Danish transport and logistics giant said that the conglomerate's revenue came at US$9.5 billion in the second quarter of 2018 and EBITDA at US$0.9 billion. For the first semester of the year, the revenue stood at US$18.8 billion and EBITDA at US$1.6 billion.

Maersk pointed out that its profitability was hit by an average bunker price rise of 28 percent year-on-year.