Hamburger Hafen und Logistik revenue up by 7.7 percent to € 1,578.4 million in 2022
Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) developed successfully in the 2022 financial year despite challenging conditions, according to the company's release.
Group revenue rose by 7.7 percent to € 1,578.4 million (previous year: € 1,465.4 million). The Group operating result (EBIT) decreased by 3.4 percent to € 220.4 million (previous year: € 228.2 million). Profit after tax and minority interests were 17.5 percent lower than in the previous year at € 92.7 million (previous year: € 112.3 million). Earnings per share thus amounted to € 1.23 (previous year: € 1.50). Return on capital employed (ROCE) came to 9.7 percent, 0.9 percentage points lower than the previous year.
While container throughput decreased by 7.9 percent to 6,396 thousand standard containers (TEU) (previous year: 6,943 thousand TEU), transport volumes remained virtually constant at 1,694 thousand TEU despite operational disruptions regarding arrivals to German seaport terminals (previous year: 1,690 thousand TEU).
In the publicly listed Port Logistics subgroup, revenue increased by 7.4 percent to € 1,542.3 million (previous year: € 1,435.8 million).
The operating result (EBIT) decreased by 5.2 percent year-on-year to € 201.6 million (previous year: € 212.6 million), which still placed it well above the expected range of € 160 million to € 195 million. Much higher storage charges during the year as a result of the ongoing disruptions to global supply chains, which led to longer container dwell times at HHLA’s terminals in Hamburg, Tallinn and Trieste, had a positive effect on the development of our revenue and earnings in the financial year.
Lower handling volumes, partly due to the effects of the situation in Ukraine on throughput at the terminal in Odessa, proved to be a drain on earnings. Added to this were general price hikes and additional material and personnel costs resulting from the higher storage load. Profit after tax and non-controlling interests decreased by 20.4 percent to € 82.1 million (previous year: € 103.1 million). Earnings per class A share thus came to € 1.13 (previous year: € 1.43).
During the 2022 reporting year, Group-wide container throughput decreased by 7.9 percent to 6,396 thousand TEU (previous year: 6,943 thousand TEU). At 6,071 thousand TEU, throughput volume at the three Hamburg container terminals was down 4.1 percent year-on-year (previous year: 6,328 thousand TEU). This reduction was primarily due to the decrease in cargo volumes to the Far East shipping region, as well as the decline in volumes as a result of the sanctions imposed against Russia.
The proportion of seaborne handling by feeders was down slightly to 19.8 percent (previous year: 20.4 percent). The international container terminals reported a sharp decline in throughput volume of 47.1 percent to 326 thousand TEU (previous year: 615 thousand TEU). This was due to the strong decline in cargo volumes at the Odessa terminal after seaborne handling there was suspended by the authorities at the end of February 2022.
By contrast, container transport volumes increased slightly to 1,694 thousand TEU (previous year: 1,690 thousand TEU). Rail transport rose by 2.2 percent year-on-year to 1,409 thousand TEU (previous year: 1,379 thousand TEU). Road transport saw a decrease in volume of 8.7 percent to 285 thousand TEU (previous year: 312 thousand TEU).
HHLA’s properties in the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district and the fish market area in Hamburg reported a positive trend in 2022 with almost full occupancy.
Revenue rose strongly by 15.9 percent in the reporting period to € 44.1 million (previous year: € 38.1 million). In addition to increased earnings from revenue-based rent agreements, this growth was mainly due to rising rental income from newly developed properties in the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district.
The cumulative operating result (EBIT) rose by 20.9 percent to € 18.4 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 15.3 million). This further positive development in earnings was primarily driven by revenue growth, while maintenance volumes were lower.
