Hapag-Lloyd was able to increase freight rates and revenue results in the third quarter, although the market environment remains challenging, a media statement from the company has said. The average freight rate rose year-on-year by 8 per cent to USD 1,647/TEU.According to the statement, the rate increases initiated by Hapag-Lloyd in the first quarter and implemented in the second quarter had a tangible effect here.
Transport volume in the third quarter amounted to 1.28 million TEU and revenue of EUR 1.765 billion was 15 per cent higher than in the same period last year.
“Given the intense competition and gloomier economic prospects this is a good result. Unfortunately, given the absence of the peak season, we were not able to continue the upward trend in freight rates in the third quarter,” said Mr. Michael Behrendt, Chairman of the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd.
In the first nine months of the current financial year the average freight rate rose by 2.2 per cent to USD 1,574/TEU and transport volume by 2.3 per cent to 3.96 million TEU.
Besides, revenue also climbed to EUR 5.16 billion, an increase of 14.6 per cent. The sharp rise in energy costs again weighed heavily on the result. Transport expenses, of which bunker is the largest component, were nearly EUR 750 million higher than last year in the first nine months.
Hapag-Lloyd invested EUR 692.5 million in ships and containers in the first nine months. After the delivery of two new vessels in the third quarter, Hapag-Lloyd’s order book now comprises eight ships of 13,200 TEU each, of which one is due for delivery this month. The order book and planned investment in the container fleet are already fully financed. Hapag-Lloyd holds liquidity (including undrawn credit lines) of more than EUR 650 million. The Group’s equity ratio amounts to 46.3 per cent (as of 30.9).
The fourth quarter will be dominated by the intensifying effects of the debt crisis in the euro zone. Liquidity constraints and declining consumer demand mean that retailers and manufacturers are not filling their warehouses but instead reducing their inventories. This noticeably reduces demand for transport services in these markets, especially in southern European countries.
Despite the burden from high energy prices and the increasingly gloomy economic outlook, Hapag-Lloyd is striving to achieve a positive operating result again for the current financial year, provided there is no fundamental escalation of the risks in the fourth quarter, the statement added.
At present, Hapag-Lloyd has around 7,000 employees at 300 sites in 114 countries. The fleet consisted of 146 vessels (of which 81 are charter ships) with a total capacity of 675,000 TEU on Sept. 30.
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