HHLA maintains negative trends in 2023
Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) has been experiencing a decline in revenue since the beginning of the year. Things do not seem to be improving according to the company’s data for the first nine months of 2023. Revenue in the HHLA Group reduced by 7.1 percent between January and September 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. There was an increase in revenue for the company’s intermodal segment but it was generated by lower volumes, with profits dropping.
HHLA’s CEO said that this decline was caused by the “subdued economic situation” and “challenging
macroeconomic framework conditions”. It needs to be mentioned that the company was somewhat of expecting these numbers. “HHLA’s actual economic development in the first nine months of 2023 was largely in line with the forecast published in the combined management report for 2022”, they stated.
The company’s profitability also took a significant hit, with its EBIT decreasing by 52.8 per cent and Profit After Tax and minority interest dropping from 69,8 million euros to 11,9 million. These figures show a downward trend, compared to the ones posted for the first half of the year, when the decline in revenue was at 6.7 per cent. If HHLA Group posted negative numbers for 2023, its rail subsidiary Metrans showed some concerns regarding 2024. Expected increases in are energy and fuel prices and track access charges, the implementation of cancellation fees and inflation will lead to a five per cent increase in prices.
HHLA’s Port Logistics subgroup
The Port Logistics subgroup, HHLA’s branch operating the container, intermodal, and logistics segments showed a similar trend, with a decrease in revenue of 7.4 per cent (from 1,145 billion euros to 1,061 billion). Moreover, its EBIT dropped by 57.4 per cent and its Profit After Tax and minority interest steeply declined by 94.9 per cent. “Container throughput at HHLA’s terminals decreased year-on-year by 8.5 per cent”, the company mentioned, linking this drop to lower volumes exchanged with the Far East, especially China.
Intermodality: lower volumes but higher revenues
The intermodal segment seems to be the less impacted one, despite still posting negative figures in terms of volumes. Intermodal container transport fell by 3.4 per cent, with rail transport in this context declining by 1.6 per cent. This is especially true when compared to HHLA’s road transport within the intermodal segment, which fell by 12.4 per cent. The company claimed that revenue for intermodal transport services has increased by 8 per cent, reaching 465.8 million euros. “The reason for this was the rise in transport revenue in the previous year, which was adjusted to the increased costs for the purchase of services, in particular, energy”, HHLA specified. The operating result (EBIT) decreased by 4.1 per cent to 61,4 million euros in the reporting period.
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