German container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd wrapped up the first nine months of this year with significantly higher earnings than in the corresponding period last year.
EBITDA rose to 8.2 billion (€6.8 billion) from $2.04 billion posted in the first nine months of 2020.
The EBIT was also much higher than in the prior-year period and amounted to $6.9 billion, compared to $965 million in the first three quarters of 2020.
At the same time, the group profit improved to $6.7 billion from $605 million recorded in the nine-month period last year.
Revenues rose in the first nine months of 2021 by approximately 70 percent, to $17.9 billion from $1.1 billion reported last year. As explained, the rise can primarily be attributed to a higher average freight rate of 1,818 $/TEU (9M 2020: 1,097 $/TEU). This significant increase is mainly the result of persistently high demand for container transports with scarce capacities at the same time. In addition, transport volumes were up to 8,980 TTEU and thereby 3 percent higher than the comparable figure for the previous year.
Transport expenses climbed 16 percent in the nine-month period, to $8.9 billion. This was due in part to higher costs for container handling and an increased average bunker consumption price, which stood at $452 per tonne in the first nine months (9M 2020: $402 per tonne), according to Hapag-Lloyd.
“Despite all the operational challenges, we achieved an extraordinary strong nine-month result. However, global supply chains are under enormous pressure, which further intensified during the peak season in the third quarter. This unfortunately also creates additional operational burdens for carriers, ports and terminals – but, most importantly, for customers worldwide,” Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, commented.
