HHLA's Revenue & Earnings Rise

 

*Container throughput in Hamburg up by 2.1 %
*Container transport grows by 9.0 %
*Improvements in revenue and operating result
*HHLA confirms forecast

In the first half of 2014, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) increased its revenue by 5.2 percent to € 595.7 million and improved its operating result (EBIT) by 3.4 percent to € 81.4 million. HHLA has confirmed its forecast for the full year 2014.
 

“Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG has achieved a favourable performance in the first half of 2014. We have maintained our significantly expanded market position in container handling as well as the growth trend for our container transport services, with a further rise in market shares. This has enabled us to generate higher revenue and improve our earnings. Despite rising competitive pressure and continuing infrastructure restrictions, this is a highly significant development”, said Klaus-Dieter Peters, Chairman of HHLA’s Executive Board.
 
FAR EAST TRAFFIC DRIVES THROUGHPUT GROWTH
With growth of 2.1 percent in throughput at its Hamburg container terminals, HHLA has consolidated its market position among Northern Europe’s major ports. However, the drop in container throughput at the HHLA terminal in Odessa (Ukraine) as a result of the crisis there meant that the Container segment recorded an overall increase in throughput of just 0.7 percent to 3.8 million standard containers (TEU) in the first half of 2014. Feeder traffic via the Baltic to Russia also declined for the first time since 2009. By contrast, the growth in throughput in Hamburg was due to the sharp rise of 8.0 percent in Far East traffic on existing liner services compared with the first half of 2013.
 
HHLA’S HINTERLAND STRATEGY CONTINUES TO BE SUCCESSFUL
HHLA’s hinterland systems for container transport by road and rail increased their volumes in the first six months of the 2014 financial year by 9.0 percent to 633 thousand TEU. The strong growth can mainly be attributed to the success of the newly established rail transport links in Germany, Austria and Switzerland since the end of 2012. However, existing connections with the Czech Republic and Slovakia and traffic with the Polish seaports also recorded an increase.
 
FORECAST FOR THE FULL YEAR 2014 CONFIRMED
On the basis of the development in the first half of the year, HHLA confirms its expectation of a slight increase in container throughput in 2014 as a whole - provided that the current structure of freight flows remains unchanged. With regard to container transport, HHLA is aiming for growth that is well above the general market trend. Against this background, HHLA forecasts a moderate increase in revenue compared with the previous year’s adjusted figure (€ 1.14 billion) and an operating result (EBIT) at Group level of between € 138 million and € 158 million.

A number of fundamental uncertainties continue to apply for the rest of the year. In particular, of the conflict in Ukraine and the development of economic relationships with Russia, but also in terms of progress in consolidating the container shipping segment. The restructuring of liner services entails both risks and opportunities.