Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG posts H1 2016 results
In a persistently difficult operating environment, container handling volumes at Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) remained 5.7 % down on the previous year at 3.2 million standard containers (TEU) in the first half of 2016, the company said in its press release. By contrast, container transport of the intermodal companies experienced further growth, increasing by 6.2 % to 694 thousand TEU. Revenue at Group level was down slightly on the previous year’s figure at approximately € 573 million. Adjusted for the one-off restructuring expense of almost € 15 million which was fully recognised in the half-yearly figures, the Group’s operating result (EBIT) almost matched the previous year’s at just under € 82 million.
Excluding the one-off restructuring expense, operating result (EBIT) almost on a par with the previous year at € 81.8 million. At € 66.9 million, EBIT 19.1 % lower than the previous year’s figure following the one-off expense of € 14.9 million for the restructuring of project and contract logistics
In the first half of 2016, throughput at HHLA’s container terminals was down by 5.7 % on the first six months of the previous year, at 3.2 million TEU. While the Container Terminal Odessa handled 132 thousand TEU – 5.9 % more containers than in the same period of the previous year – container throughput at the Hamburg terminals fell by 6.2 % to 3.1 million TEU. This was largely due to persistently weak Asia traffic (Far East–Northern Europe), which was down by 9 % on the first six months of 2015. The reduction in revenue in the Container segment was less pronounced, at 4.4 %, taking the figure to just under € 337 million. The segment’s operating result (EBIT) decreased in line with volumes, falling 5.9 % to approximately € 54 million.
HHLA’s transport companies were able to further extend their position. They grew their transport volume by 6.2 % to 694 thousand TEU in the highly competitive market for hinterland container traffic. This development was largely driven by rail transportation, which even increased by an impressive 8.6 %. As a result, revenue in the Intermodal segment grew by 5.5 % to almost € 191 million. Meanwhile, the segment’s operating result (EBIT) considerably outperformed the growth in volumes and revenue, climbing by 25.5 % to almost € 34 million.
In light of the Group’s performance in the first half, HHLA confirms its forecast and anticipates revenue at Group level on a par with the previous year and, following the one-off restructuring expense, a consolidated operating result (EBIT) in the range of € 115 million to € 145 million.
