- Demand and freight rates recovered in first half of year
- Focus on continued growth and quality
- Forecast already raised in July
Hapag-Lloyd concluded the first half year of 2024 with a Group EBITDA of USD 2 billion (EUR 1.8 billion). The Group EBIT decreased to USD 0.9 billion (EUR 0.8 billion) and the Group profit to USD 0.8 billion (EUR 0.7 billion). In view of the significantly changed market conditions following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, these results are well below the previous year’s level, but they are also above the initial expectations due to higher demand and rising spot rates in the second quarter of 2024.
In the Liner Shipping segment, the transport volumes increased by 5 percent compared to the prior-year period, to 6.1 million TEU (H1 2023: 5.8 million TEU). Segment revenues fell by 14 percent, to USD 9.3 billion (EUR 8.6 billion), in particular due to a lower average freight rate of 1,391 USD/TEU (H1 2023: 1,761 USD/TEU) compared to the same period last year. The EBITDA decreased to USD 1.9 billion (EUR 1.8 billion). The EBIT fell to USD 0.8 billion (EUR 0.8 billion).
The Terminal & Infrastructure segment achieved a significant increase in sales and earnings in the first half of 2024, in particular due to the equity stakes acquired in the previous year. The EBITDA rose to USD 71 million (EUR 66 million) and the EBIT to USD 33 million (EUR 31 million). Since the segment was founded in the second half of 2023, the results for the first half of 2024 are only comparable with the prior-year figures to a limited extent.
“Even though we were unable to match the exceptionally good results of the prior year, we delivered a very good first half of 2024 thanks to strong demand and better spot rates. We have added several new ships and containers to our fleet. This has helped us to meet the additional capacity requirements resulting from the security situation in the Red Sea and the rerouting of ships around the Cape of Good Hope, thereby keeping supply chains intact. At the same time, we have made more progress in our efforts to decarbonise our fleet as well as in building up our terminal business under the Hanseatic Global Terminals brand. In the second half of the year, we will increasingly focus on continued growth and the high quality of our services,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd AG. Given the fact that demand and freight rates have recently exceeded expectations, the Executive Board raised its forecast for the current financial year on 9 July 2024. The Group EBITDA is expected to be in the range of USD 3.5 to 4.6 billion (EUR 3.2 to 4.2 billion) and the Group EBIT to be in the range of USD 1.3 to 2.4 billion (EUR 1.2 to 2.2 billion). In view of the highly volatile development of freight rates and major geopolitical challenges, this forecast remains subject to a high degree of uncertainty.
