PARIS (Reuters) - France's CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container shipping firm, reported on Friday a first-quarter net loss and said it aimed to cut costs by nearly $1 billion (0.68 billion pounds) to maintain positive operating margins in a market downturn.
The company posted a net loss of $100 million, compared with a $406 million net profit in the same period of last year, it said in a statement.
Core operating profit fell to $3 million, also from $406 million a year ago, while sales declined by 15.3 percent to $3.4 billion.
Increased volumes, which rose 2.9 percent, and an unspecified fall in unit costs partly offset weak freight rates and helped it achieve a positive operating margin of 0.1 percent.
