Ship broking giant Clarksons issued a profit warning today as it told shareholders that Donald Trump’s tariff trade wars “will impact results for 2025.”
The 173 year old shipping services company, which has its headquarters at St Katharine’s Dock on the edge of the City, said “underlying profit before tax will be within the range of £85 million to £95 million.”
In early trading the shares fell 400p, or 12% to 2885p.
The warning comes weeks after the world’s biggest broker revealed record profits of £115.3 million for 2024, the third consecutive year that it made profits of more than £100 million.
In a downbeat trading update Clarksons said shipping rates are running 7% lower, in dollar terms, than anticipated at the time of the full year results on 10 March 2025.
The FTSE 250 listed company added that if exchange rates remain at current levels to the end of 2025 “profits would be reduced by £9.5 million” compared with previous expectations.
However the company said it remained committed to its “strategy that has served Clarksons well and the Group continues to help its clients navigate these ongoing complexities, by providing the expertise, data and insights to enable them to make the right decisions for their organisations.
“Demand for Clarksons research products is currently high as clients seek trusted advice during the current market turbulence. “
The company, which employs 2,000 people across 24 countries, was founded in 1852, during the age of sail, and then pivoted to steamships. It grew to a dominant position in the global ship-broking market with the growth of the oil industry, which relies on ever-larger tankers to fuel the world economy.
The warnings comes after weeks of turmoil over rapidly fluctuation policies on tariffs from the Trump administration that has created extreme volatility on the world’s financial markets.
Currently there is a 10% tariff on goods from most nations but Chinese imports to the US are facing tariffs of 145% . China has retaliated by imposing a 125% levy on US imports .
Since the tariffs took effect, ocean container bookings from China to the United States have fallen by 60%.
Yesterday official figures showed the US government shrank in the first three months of the year as government spending fell and imports surged due to firms racing to get goods into the country ahead of tariffs.
