- Undeterred by the pandemic Hapag-Lloyd records a net profit of $287m in the second quarter of the year in contrast to the $56m profit for the same period of 2019.
- In terms of half-year, the carrier reports a net profit of $314m, versus $165m last year, a 90% jump in profitability.
- At ebit level for the first half, Hapag-Lloyd by 28%, to $563m.
- Hapag-Lloyd adopts a cautious approach to its full-year earnings guidance, maintaining its forecast of an ebit level of between €500m and €1bn.
A recent news report in the Loadstar reveals that Hapag-Lloyd has been making profits despite the negative impact of the Covid 19 pandemic.
A strong performance
Chief executive Rolf Habben Jansen said the group had produced “a very solid half-year result, despite the coronavirus crisis”.
While transport volume fell year-on-year by 3.5% in H1 to 5.76m teu and by 11% in Q2, revenue slipped just 0.6% for the six-month period to $7bn, as the average freight rate across its tradelanes was up 3.1%, to $1,104 per teu.
Cautious move
But Mr Habben Jansen added: “We are still very cautious. It’s very easy to get carried away by a couple of weeks of good bookings, and we would be very naïve to assume that we are through the pandemic.”
He opines that,
- the markets are still very unstable
- there is huge booking volatility from week to week
- the pandemic is and will remain a major source of uncertainty for the entire logistics industry
Surprise element
Surprisingly, Hapag-Lloyd’s biggest tradelane, Latin America, recorded a 1.6% year-on-year increase in volumes for the half-year, to 1.41m teu, however liftings slumped by 6.4% in Q2 as the pandemic raged through Latin America.
The downside
On the transpacific, liftings were down 5.7% to 890,000 teu, but revenue decreased by a modest 3% reflecting higher freight rates.
Asia to Europe route
From Asia to Europe, Hapag-Lloyd carried 9.8% less volume than in the previous H1 period, at 1.1m teu, including a 15.3% downturn in Q2.
Again the carrier’s revenue on the route held up well, dipping only 5% on the previous year.
According to Mr Habben Jansen, the demand is stronger for Q3. He also expects capacity reductions to be in the “middle single-digit” range.
Transatlantic tradelane
He did, however, identify the transatlantic tradelane as suffering a “significant impact on volumes” due to Covid-19, and said he expected current capacity adjustments measures would be continued through the quarter.
Although Hapag-Lloyd expects global container volumes will contract by some 7% this year, Mr Habben Jansen pledged that the carrier would not look to grow its market share in the downturn, maintaining the group ethos of “profitability over market share”.
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Source: The LoadStar
