Hapag-Lloyd Raises Guidance Amid Stronger-Than-Expected Demand in Liner Shipping

Hapag-Lloyd, one of the world’s leading liner shipping companies, concluded the first half of 2024 with a Group EBITDA of $2 billion, compared to $3.7 billion during the same period last year.

Hapag-Lloyd’s Group EBIT decreased to $900 million and profit to $800 million, down from $2.7 billion and $3.1 billion, respectively, due to changed market conditions post-COVID-19. Despite this, the results exceeded initial expectations due to higher demand and rising spot rates in Q2 2024.

Hapag-Lloyd’s Liner Shipping segment saw a 5% increase in transport volumes to 6.1 million TEU, but revenues fell by 14% to $9.3 billion due to a lower average freight rate. EBITDA decreased to $1.9 billion, and EBIT fell to $800 million.

The company’s Terminal & Infrastructure segment saw a significant rise in sales and earnings in the first half of 2024, driven by equity stakes acquired in the previous year. EBITDA reached $71 million and EBIT $33 million. Comparisons with the previous year are limited as the segment was established in the second half of 2023.

“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,” said said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd. “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.”

Given that demand and freight rates have recently exceeded expectations, Hapag-Lloyd raised its financial forecast for 2024, expecting Group EBITDA to be $3.5 to $4.6 billion and Group EBIT to be $1.3 to $2.4 billion, due to higher-than-expected demand and freight rates. However, the company notes the forecast is uncertain due to volatile freight rates and geopolitical challenges.

With a fleet of 287 modern container ships and a total transport capacity of 2.2 million TEU, Hapag-Lloyd continues to be a leading player in the global liner shipping industry.

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