Hapag-Lloyd increased profits nearly 10 times in the first 6 months of the year

Hapag-Lloyd achieved outstanding financial results in the first half of 2021, benefiting from strong demand for container shipping and record freight rates.

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A container vessel of Hapag-Lloyd (Photo: Hapag-Lloyd)

According to CEO Rolf Habben Jansen, Hapag-Lloyd has achieved outstanding financial performance in the first half of 2021, benefiting from strong demand for container shipping and soaring freight rates.

The German shipping line posted impressive gains in all key financial metrics for the first six months of 2021, with revenue rising to $10.6 billion (up 37.6 percent), earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) tripled to $4.2 billion, EBIT increased to $3.5 billion, about 5.5 times higher than 2020's EBIT, and the group's profit group increased to $3.3 billion, up more than 9.5 times the profit in the first half of 2020.

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Hapag-Lloyd - Financial statements for the first 6 months of 2021 (Source: Hapag-Lloyd)

“Among other things, we were able to reduce our net debt by US$1.5 billion, although we paid out a significantly higher dividend compared to the prior year,” said Rolf Habben Jansen.

The increase in freight rates is the main driving force that helps most container shipping lines improve their business results.

Hapag-Lloyd posted a 46% increase in average freight rates to $1,612/TEU in the first half of 2021, compared to the same period last year.

"The freight rate development was the result of high demand combined with scarce transport capacities and severe infrastructural bottlenecks," said the Hamburg-based shipping operator.

According to the CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, who pointed out that supply chain bottlenecks continue to cause severe stress and inefficiencies for all market participants, "we do not believe that the situation will return to normal any time soon - despite all the efforts made and the additional container box capacity that is being injected. We currently expect the market situation only to ease in the first quarter of 2022 at the earliest."

Meanwhile, Hapag-Lloyd's shipping volume increased to 6 million TEUs in the first half of the year, up 4% from the previous year's figure. According to the company's statement, container output was affected by the drop in demand in the second quarter due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition, the average fuel price was about 6% lower, or $421/ton in the first half of 2021, which had a positive impact on profitability.

According to Hapag-Lloyd, while demand remains strong amid the current congested market, which has led to a shortfall in weekly shipping capacity, the carrier expects profits to remain strong in the second half. financial year.

EBITDA for the full year is expected to be between $9.2 and $11.2 billion and EBIT between $7.5 and $9.5 billion.

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