Danish shipping and oil giant A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S Wednesday posted a forecast-beating 30% rise in first quarter net profit, boosted by an after tax gain from the sale of shares in Danske Bank, and confirmed its full-year forecast.

For the quarter ended March 31 Maersk made a net profit of $1.57 billion, compared with $1.21 billion a year earlier, on revenue of $10.55 billion and $11.74 billion respectively. Net profit for the quarter was forecast to be $1.13 billion, based on four analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal Underlying profit, which strips out one-off items, rose to $1.32 billion, from $1.12 billion for the first quarter of 2014. Maersk Line, the world's biggest container operator in terms of capacity contributed $710 million, compared with $366 million while Maersk Oil contributed $207 million and $346 million respectively.