Malta Freeport owners planning asset sales, asks banks to reschedule debt payments

The Financial Times report quotes Rodolphe Saadé, the Marseilles-based company's executive director, outlining the request for a debt restructuring to its bankers at a meeting last Tuesday, where CMA CGM had given details of its 2011 performance.

CMA CGM published full-year figures showing a US$30 million net loss for 2011, a figure which was far smaller than the loss sustained by its main rivals, namely Denmark's Maersk Line which last month announced a US$537 million net loss.

However, Saadé told the Financial Times that the loss, struck on revenues up 4 per cent on 2010 to $14.9 billion, was reduced by US$350 million in profits of asset sales, including ships and part of its stake in the company's terminals in Malta, where CMA CGM operates a significant hub for moving containers between ships. A cost-cutting programme had also boosted the results.

For 2010, when container shipping staged a sudden recovery from a slump following the financial crisis, CMA CGM announced a US$1.63 billion net profit.

"The sale of assets allowed us to reduce the losses,"  Saadé told FT. "However, at the same time, one has to take into account that the actions we have undertaken in terms of the operations of our company also allowed us to reduce the impact of a volatile market."

CMA CGM, controlled by Jacques Saadé, Rodolphe Saadé's father, came close to insolvency as container shipping markets slumped in 2009 and early 2010. It was rescued only by a US$500 million investment from Robert Yildirim, a Turkish investor, who could eventually acquire 20 per cent of the company.

There has been widespread speculation since rates slumped again halfway through last year that it could again find itself struggling.