HHLA continues success

(Posted on 18/11/19)

Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) in Hamburg has continued its positive performance in the first nine months of 2019. The company recorded another significant increase in revenue and saw strong growth in its operating result. It was again possible to improve profitability year-on-year in a challenging market environment. Including a significant increase in revenue from the Logistics segment and a once again moderate increase in revenue from property management, this led to total revenue of € 1,044.6 million (+ 8.3 percent). The operating result (EBIT) improved strongly by € 19.3 million, or 12.4 percent, to € 175.4 million. The positive effects of the initial application of IFRS 16 in the EBIT amounted to approximately € 10.6 million.

Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of HHLA’s Executive Board: “As encouraging as our business trend is this year, we must still keep a realistic view of the changing conditions in which we operate. The challenges facing the entire transport and logistics industry remain significant. We are approaching these challenges with confidence and vigour and are continuing to work towards our aim and mission of making HHLA ready for the future. This means that we will strengthen our core business and tap into new, highly promising sectors.”

The listed Port Logistics subgroup recorded an 8.6 percent increase in revenue to € 1,020.2 million in the first nine months. It was able to grow its operating result (EBIT) by 13.3 percent to € 162.7 million. The EBIT margin improved by 0.6 percentage points to 15.9 percent.

In the Container segment, container throughput increased moderately by 4.0 percent in the first nine months of 2019 to 5,730 thousand standard containers (TEU). In addition to the successful integration of the terminal in Tallinn, there was also a small improvement in throughput volume in Hamburg which contributed to this development. Due to the increase in volume combined with an improvement in average revenue compared to the previous year, revenue increased by 6.0 percent to € 605.5 million. This was caused primarily by an increase in the rail share. The operating result (EBIT) increased by € 9.7 million or 9.4 percent year-on-year to € 112.6 million. Of this increase, approximately € 8.0 million is attributable to the application of IFRS 16. The EBIT margin improved by 0.6 percentage points to 18.6 percent.

In the first nine months of 2019, HHLA’s transport companies achieved significant growth in the Intermodal segment.

As a result of the Group’s performance in the first nine months of 2019, the HHLA Executive Board is updating its assessment of expected earnings for the Group in 2019.