ZIM jumps with good results seen but sale uncertain

ZIM's share price jumped 4.86% on Wall Street on Friday, ahead of its Q2 results due Wednesday, after rival Maersk beat expectations and raised guidance. Analysts predict $1.66 billion revenue and EPS of $1.88. The company is being sold for $4.2 billion to Hapag-Lloyd and FIMI, but the State of Israel's golden share could scupper the deal, with many ministries opposing.

ZIM's share price jumped 4.86% on Wall Street on Friday, giving a market cap of $3.4 billion. The rise came ahead of the Israeli shipping company's results due to be published on Wednesday, after rival Maersk published results that beat analysts' expectations and raised its profit guidance for the second time this year. Analysts predict ZIM will report $1.66 billion revenue for the second quarter and earnings per share of $1.88. Last year ZIM only succeeded in beating the analysts' profit forecast once. ZIM, led by CEO Chen Lichtenstein, is in the midst of being sold for $4.2 billion to German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd and Ishay Davidi's FIMI Opportunity Funds. But the State of Israel, which has a golden share in ZIM, could scupper the deal, and many government ministries have already expressed opposition to the sale.