Hapag-Lloyd Raises Full-Year Earnings Outlook

Hapag-Lloyd expects to report first-half 2021 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of approximately $4.2 billion as global demand for container shipping remains high, according to preliminary figures released by the company on Friday.

This marks a significant increase compared to the $1.3 billion in EBITDA reported for the first half of 2020.

First half 2021 EBIT is expected to be roughly $3.5 billion, compared to approximately $600 million in the first half of 2020.

While global demand for container transport remains at a high level, operational disruptions along the entire supply chain continue to cause significant delays and contribute to the shortage of transport capacity, Hapag-Lloyd said.

Looking ahead, Hapag-Lloyd expects earnings momentum to remain “very strong” in the second half of the year, leading the company to raise its earnings outlook for the year. EBITDA is now expected to be in the range of $9.2 to $11.2 billion and EBIT in the range of $7.5 to $9.5 billion.

“We also benefitted from better freight rates in the second quarter and are looking at a very strong first half-year overall. At the same time, since we firmly expect this momentum to carry over into the second half of the year, we have raised our earnings forecast for 2021 as a whole. We will continue to work tirelessly to reduce the impact of supply chain bottlenecks for our customers and to deliver a better service quality,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.

Hapag-Lloyd is one of the world’s leading liner shipping companies with a fleet of 241 container ships and a total transport capacity of 1.7 million TEU.

The final business figures for the first half of 2021 will be published as planned on August 12th.

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