Shareholders in the world’s biggest container-shipping company may get up to $8 billion in payouts next year, according to Goldman Sachs.
That’s great news for equity investors in A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, but it raises a number of questions for the Danish company’s creditors.
According to Danske Bank, big shareholder rewards will push Maersk’s credit rating closer to junk. And going forward, the company will have a hard time making enough money to protect its BBB rating because trade conflicts between the U.S. and China will pressure the transport industry, according to Brian Borsting, a Danske credit analyst.
The Payout Math
Chief Executive Officer Soren Skou says Maersk plans to give shareholders “a material part” of the roughly $5 billion it got from the sale of an oil and gas unit. Goldman interprets that as meaning about $3.9 billion. To get to $8 billion, the Wall Street bank includes equity payments from a planned IPO of Maersk Drilling (about $3.5 billion) and a couple of other smaller items.
Read more on Bloomberg.
