Hapag-Lloyd Raises Earnings Outlook Thanks to ‘Unabated’ Demand for Container Shipping

German liner company Hapag-Lloyd has raised its 2021 earnings outlook to up to $12.6 billion due to the “unabated” global demand for container transports.

The company on Friday published preliminary earnings figures for the first nine months of 2021, showing EBITDA in the range of $7.8 billion (EUR 6.8 billion) through September. This compares around $2 billion (EUR 1.8 billion) for the same period in 2020. At the same time, EBIT is expected to be roughly EUR 5.8 billion compared to approximately EUR 0.9 billion in the first nine months of 2020.

Hapag-Lloyd said the “very strong financial results” in the first nine months of the year is “due to unabated global demand for container transports and the continuing disruptions in global supply-chains causing a shortage of available transport capacity.”

“Given the earnings momentum is likely to remain on a high level, the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG has decided today to raise its earnings outlook. 2021 Group EBITDA is now expected to be in the range of EUR 10.1 – 10.9 billion (previously: EUR 7.6 – 9.3 billion) and Group EBIT in the range of EUR 8.7 – 9.5 billion (previously: EUR 6.2 – 7.9 billion),” the company said.

The EBITDA increase marks a more than 15% bump from its previous outlook, if you look at the high-end.

The final figures for the first nine months of 2021 will be published as planned on November 12, 2021.