CMA CGM Q3 Profit Triples on Higher Rates, but Its Forwarding Unit's Margin Shrinks
Net profit reached $2.32 billion as revenue-per-TEU rose 30%, while the CEVA logistics division saw EBITDA fall 14.4% despite 19.2% revenue growth.
French shipping group CMA CGM reported third-quarter 2026 net profit of $2.32 billion, roughly triple the year-earlier figure, on revenue up 31.1% to $18.4 billion, FreightWaves reported on 13 November. The shipping division captured the upside: revenue per TEU rose 30% to $1,891 and EBITDA margin reached 32.4%, ahead of Maersk's 29.4% and Hapag-Lloyd's 24.9%. But the group's logistics division, CEVA, told a different story - revenue up 19.2% while EBITDA fell 14.4% to $366 million, with margin compressing to 6.7%, which management attributed to difficult freight forwarding conditions and weak automotive demand.
The results quantify the 2026 split in global logistics: carriers earn record margins from rate increases while forwarding businesses, even those owned by the carriers themselves, see margins erode. For mid-sized forwarders - the backbone of Indonesia's export-import services - the data reinforces the case for operational cost control and document-workflow automation as margin-protection levers heading into 2027.