PARIS (Reuters) - French container shipping group CMA CGM [CMACG.UL] said its third-quarter volumes had outperformed the industry, supported by brisk transpacific activity that suggested no negative impact so far from U.S.-Chinese trade tensions.
CMA CGM's quarterly volumes reached 5.26 million twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) containers, up 5.5 percent from the same period last year and compared with overall sector growth of 2.5-3 percent, the company said in a statement on Friday.
That contributed to a 6.3 percent rise in third-quarter sales to $6.06 billion (4.72 billion pounds).
Activity remained strong in the fourth quarter, particularly on transpacific routes, a CMA CGM spokesman said, adding this was contrary to the usual market trend in which volumes ease after a peak period of third-quarter shipments to the United States ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The group, the world's fourth-largest container shipping line, said its operating margin was 4.0 percent in the third quarter, down from 10.4 percent a year earlier but up from 1.2 percent in the previous quarter.
Net profit reached $103.1 million, down from $323.3 million in the year-earlier period but above the $22.7 million in the prior quarter.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Bate Felix)
