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Clerc, 50, will take over from Soren Skou on Jan. 1 at a time of
rapid growth for Maersk as it seeks to develop its land-based
logistics business while seeing freight rates in its core
container shipping business plummet as a global recession looms.
"The strong tail winds that benefited the supply chain
industries during the pandemic are coming to an end," Maersk
Chairman Robert Maersk Uggla told a press conference at the
company's headquarters in Copenhagen.
"I think it's an advantage for the company to have some new
energy in the CEO position... at a time when we can see
turbulence on the horizon," he said.
The change comes less than a year after Uggla, the grandson of
Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller, the former Maersk head who transformed
the group into an international conglomerate, was elected
chairman of the board. Uggla also heads the holding company that
controls Maersk.
Shares in Maersk have roughly doubled since Skou took over as
CEO in 2016. Skou has overseen the group's transformation from a
conglomerate into an integrated logistics company, a process
that included selling its oil and gas business to France's
TotalEnergies in 2017.
Clerc, currently head of the group's Ocean & Logistics business,
said he will focus on keeping costs down at a time when Maersk
has been buying up warehouses and distribution centres to offer
an end-to-end transportation service rather than just container
shipping.
"When we grow as fast as we have been, we want to be sure that
we don't end up with too-high costs," Clerc said.
Maersk shares have lost more than 40% of their value since
January's record high, and were trading 2.7% lower at 1218 GMT
on Monday, underperforming Copenhagen's benchmark index.
"We credit today's share price reaction to Soren Skou's very
successful tenure, but also to the fact that the timing and
company's communication on outlook can be seen as rather
gloomy," said DNB analyst Jorgen Lian in a written comment.
Clerc, a Swiss citizen born in 1972, joined Maersk in 1997 and
has since held several senior positions including Chief Trade
and Marketing Officer and Chief Commercial Officer.
Copenhagen-based Maersk is one of the world's biggest shipping
and logistics companies, handling supply chains for large
customers like Walmart and Nike. It employs more than 100,000
people in 130 countries.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen; Editing by Terje Solsvik and Jan
Harvey)
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