Hapag-Lloyd reports its best quarterly result in the July-September period, after volumes held up and average earnings per teu rose for the eighth consecutive quarter.
The German line’s net profit reached EUR5.1bn (USD5.3bn) for the period on revenues of EUR9.7bn, up 8% from the previous quarter.
Although volumes were down slightly compared to March-June, to 2.97 Mteu, a 1.5% drop, the line’s average profit per teu rose from $2,935/teu to $3,106/teu. The line also benefited from acquisitions by NileDutch and, more recently, Deutsche Afrika-Linien.
The third-quarter result takes Hapag-Lloyd’s net profit for the nine months to EUR 13.8 billion or USD 14.7 billion.
Acknowledging that the market environment had deteriorated further in the third quarter, managing director Rolf Habben Jansen said it would be a while before falling spot rates materialized in the line’s earnings. The lower spot rates were offset in the third quarter by contract rates, which cover approximately 50% of the cargo transported.
Hapag-Lloyd cited infrastructure investments as a key part of its strategy moving forward, including recently acquired stakes in the terminal business of SM SAAM and Spinelli Group, as well as shares in JadeWeserPort in Wilhelmshaven, Container Terminal Altenwerder in Hamburg, Terminal TC3 in Tangier and Terminal 2 in Damietta, currently under construction.
Despite the clear decline in freight rates seen since the beginning of July, Maersk, ONE and Hapag-Lloyd have now reported record third-quarter profits.
Hapag-Lloyd has reaffirmed its full-year forecasts for EBIT in the range of EUR 16.3 to 18.2 billion, with EUR 14.2 billion of EBIT already posted at the nine-month mark. This implies an EBIT of between EUR 2.1 and EUR 4 billion for the airline in the fourth quarter.
Source: Alphaliner, Hapag-Lloyd
