Hapag-Lloyd Returns to Profit

Photo: Hapag-Lloyd

FRANKFURT, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Newly-listed German container shipping group Hapag Lloyd said on Wednesday it broke even in the third quarter as it benefited from a merger with Chile’s CSAV and additional cost cuts.

Hapag-Lloyd, which reaped $300 million from an initial public offering (IPO) earlier this month, posted a quarterly net profit of 3.2 million euros, compared to a loss of 50.7 million in the year-earlier period.

Shares were indicated to start trading flat.

The market environment remains “very challenging”, Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen said in a statement.

Hapag-Lloyd had postponed its IPO, trimmed the number of shares on offer, lowered the price range and then priced at the bottom of the revised range after a profit warning from peer Maersk weighed on investor demand.

On average, freight rates were down to $1,189 per standard container (TEU) in the third quarter, compared to $1,448 in the year-earlier period, as global trade slowed.

But Hapag-Lloyd benefited from lower oil prices and saw transport costs per container decrease by $240 to $1,111 in the first nine months. It did not provide a quarterly figure.

Third-quarter revenues increased to 2.1 billion from 1.7 billion euros, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation rose to 197 million from 111 million euro. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Maria Sheahan)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015.