HHLA exceeds strong previous year's result

Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) continued its positive development in the current financial year and once again exceeded the strong previous year’s result in the first nine months of 2018. In both the Port Logistics and Real Estate subgroups, revenue and the operating result increased, or remained virtually unchanged. Revenue in the Port Logistics subgroup grew by 2.2 percent. Container throughput increased by 1.0 percent. The projected decline in container transport on account of the realignment of Polzug activities following its successful integration into the Metrans group lessened further.

In view of its positive performance, HHLA confirms anew its targets for the ongoing financial year. These include aiming for revenue in the region of the previous year, while EBIT in the subgroup Port Logistics and at the Group level will significantly increase.

Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of HHLA’s Executive Board: “HHLA remains on its successful course in the current financial year. We will safely reach the targets set for 2018, despite an ever-changing market environment. We are further strengthening our core business through investments so that we can meet the future needs of our customers. Equally important is our search for new, digital business fields. Our overarching objective is to help our customers to transport their goods and commodities safely, quickly and efficiently from A to B – also in the future. In doing so, HHLA aims to be the gateway to the future.”

The listed Port Logistics subgroup recorded a 2.2 percent increase in revenue to € 939.9 million in the first nine months. The operating result (EBIT) also rose slightly by 0.7 percent to € 143.6 million, with the EBIT margin remaining almost unchanged at 15.3 percent.

In the Container segment, container throughput rose slightly by 1.0 percent to 5.5 million standard containers (TEU). The continuing positive development of Far East volumes and the growth at the international HHLA container terminals contributed to this slight increase. Revenue rose by 1.3 percent to € 571.2 million, thereby somewhat exceeding growth in container throughput – this is mainly attributable to the lower feeder ratio year on year. The segment’s EBIT margin came in at 18.0 percent.

In the Intermodal segment, the decline in container transport evolved as expected. It came to just 2.5 percent. The realignment of the Polzug activities as part of its integration into the Metrans organisation ran as planned, and rail transport grew only slightly compared to the previous year while road transport continued to decline. A slight increase in rail’s share, coupled with longer transport distances, resulted in revenue that performed significantly better, rising by 3.9 percent to € 324.0 million. This was mainly due to the positive development of the average revenue as a result of a changing mix of transport relations, the higher utilisation of the terminal in Budapest, which commenced operations in mid-2017, and the successful integration of Polzug. The segment EBIT increased by 17.7 percent to € 65.3 million; the EBIT margin reached 20.1 percent.

HHLA expects container throughput in 2018 to be in the region of the previous year. The container transport volume is also forecast to remain in the region of the previous year, as Polish intermodal traffic is being realigned in the course of its integration into Metrans. At the subgroup level, this should mean that revenue is in the region of the previous year.

The operating result (EBIT) at the Port Logistics subgroup is expected to rise significantly year on year in 2018. Earnings will be driven largely by the Container and Intermodal segments.

Despite full occupancy of the HHLA quarters in the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district and Fischmarkt Hamburg-Altona having been largely reached in the previous year, the positive revenue trend continued in the first nine months of 2018, with revenue once again rising by 3.9 percent to € 29.3 million. The planned and implemented maintenance work recognised in profit or loss had an impact on the segment EBIT. It reached the level of the previous year at € 12.3 million; the EBIT margin came to 42.0 percent.

The operating result (EBIT) at the Real Estate subgroup for the whole of 2018 is expected to come in at approximately € 15 million due to planned, large-scale maintenance work that does not qualify for capitalisation.

The Interim Statement is available at:
report.hhla.de/interim-statement-q3-2018