Abstract
Intrigued by the persistent financial distress suffered by shipping lines, the paper studies the distribution of profit in container shipping industry. The industry is populated by not only liner operators but also freight forwarders, container lessors, terminal operators, and inland intermodal carriers. Accordingly, the paper proposes: Profit is not distributed equally among industry segments. Analyses of financial data of 84 companies from 2013 to 2017confirm the proposition. Specifically,terminal operators fare best in the industry, reaping a whopping 32% EBIT margin, whereas liner operators stomach a loss of $4 billion in 2016.Moreover, freight forwarders, container lessors, and inland carriers yield 11%, 20%, and 17% EBIT margin, respectively. Such earnings discrepancies prompt the paper to ask: Why is profit distributed the way it is among industry segments? The paper puts forth a model of profit distribution comprising eight variables, of which Cost structure, Economies of scale, and Industry structure are thoroughly analyzed and validated, except for Cost structure.
| Educations | Other, (Graduate Programme) Final Thesis |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publication date | 2019 |
| Number of pages | 200 |
| Supervisors | Hans-Joachim Schramm |