HHLA Reports Stronger Earnings in Steadily Changing Conditions

Despite a volatile market, German terminal operator Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) closed the first nine months of 2019 with a significant increase in its revenue and operating result.

Group revenue rose by 8.3 percent to EUR 1.04 billion (USD 1.14 billion) in the first three quarters of this year from EUR 964.2 million seen in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Profit after tax was higher by 2.4 percent and stood at EUR 111.5 million in the first nine months of 2019, against EUR 108.8 million posted in the same period of 2018.

HHLA’s port logistics subgroup recorded an 8.6 percent increase year-on-year in revenue and a 13.3 percent increase in its operating result.

Container throughput increased moderately by 4 percent in the first nine months of 2019 to 5,730 thousand standard containers (TEU).  As explained, the growth was due to the successful integration of the Estonian terminal operator HHLA TK Estonia, which was acquired last year, and a slight improvement at the Hamburg terminals.

“As encouraging as our business trend is this year, we must still keep a realistic view of the changing conditions in which we operate,” Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of HHLA’s Executive Board, commented.

“The challenges facing the entire transport and logistics industry remain significant. We are approaching these challenges with confidence and vigour and are continuing to work towards our aim and mission of making HHLA ready for the future. This means that we will strengthen our core business and tap into new, highly promising sectors.”

As a result of the group’s performance in the first nine months of 2019, HHLA updated its assessment of expected earnings for the group in 2019.

In terms of volume, HHLA now expects a moderate increase in container throughput and a significant increase in container transport. In light of these figures, a significant increase in both the group revenue and operating result is now expected for 2019.