Hapag-Lloyd operating margin positive in 2016 but down year-on-year

Hapag-Lloyd

Hapag-Lloyd has reported preliminary, unaudited financials for 2016 which suggest that the container carrier was profitable in 2016.

EBITDA was €607m, down by 27.0% year-on-year, while EBIT was €126m, down from €366m a year ago. The corresponding margins were 7.9% and 1.6% respectively.

Profitability was adversely affected by a lower average freight rate overall. Hapag-Lloyd reported a figure of $1,036 per TEU for 2016, down by 15.4% year-on-year. To an extent, this was offset by ‘transport costs’ decreasing by 12.3% to €6.4bn, primarily driven by a lower average bunker consumption price of $210 per tonne (2015: $312 per tonne) as well as synergies from the integration of CSAV’s container shipping business and cost saving programmes including improved fuel efficiency.

Exchange rate effects were minimal as the average $/€ exchange rate remained nearly stable at $1.10 per euro in 2016 compared to $1.11 per euro in 2015.

Volumes improved by 2.7% year-on-year to 7.6m TEUs, though with the average freight rate falling substantially, revenues declined by 12.5%.

Hapag-Lloyd’s final full year 2016 group financial statements and annual report will be published on March 24, 2017.

Source: Hapag-Lloyd