HHLA Reports a Decline in Revenue and Throughput in 2023

The Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) recorded a decline in group revenue of 8.3 percent to 1,447 million euros in the fiscal year 2023, according to preliminary, unaudited figures (previous year: 1,578 million euros). The group operating result (EBIT) amounted to 109 million euros, which was below the expected range of 115 million to 135 million euros (previous year: 220 million euros).

(Hamburg) The group net profit attributable to shareholders amounted to 20 million euros (previous year: 93 million euros). The group-wide container throughput decreased by 7.5 percent to 5,917 thousand TEU (previous year: 6,396 thousand TEU). At the Hamburg container terminals, the decline compared to the previous year was 6.3 percent. The transport volume reduced by 5.4 percent to 1,602 thousand TEU (previous year: 1,694 thousand TEU).

Angela Titzrath, Chairwoman of the Executive Board of HHLA: “In 2023, the war in Ukraine, geopolitical tensions, high inflation, and rising interest rates burdened the global economy and increasingly dampened economic development throughout the year. This also affected the entire logistics industry and HHLA’s business, leading to a result slightly below our expectations. Despite these challenging conditions, we managed to hold our ground well last year. We are consistently implementing our investments in automation to increase efficiency and are further advancing our activities to expand sustainable and connected logistics solutions.”

EBIT Significantly Below Expectations

In the publicly listed sub-group Port Logistics, revenues decreased by 8.6 percent to 1,409 million euros (previous year: 1,542 million euros). The operating result (EBIT) fell by 53.9 percent year-on-year to 93 million euros (previous year: 202 million euros) and was thus significantly below the last assumed expectation, which had anticipated a result at the lower end of the range of 100 to 120 million euros. The net profit attributable to shareholders amounted to 9 million euros (previous year: 82 million euros). The revenue and earnings development in the fiscal year was adversely affected by the reduced storage revenues in the container segment compared to the previous year, as well as the partly significantly reduced throughput and transport volumes due to economic conditions. The volume development in the container segment was further impacted by the suspension of feeder services to Russia as a result of EU sanctions, as well as the war-related decline in cargo volumes at the Ukrainian Container Terminal Odessa (CTO).

The real estate sub-group recorded an increase in revenues of 5.3 percent to 46 million euros (previous year: 44 million euros) in the fiscal year 2023. The operating result (EBIT) decreased by 12.5 percent to 16 million euros (previous year: 18 million euros) mainly due to increased depreciation and higher maintenance costs compared to the previous year. The net profit attributable to shareholders amounted to 11 million euros (previous year: 11 million euros).

Nevertheless, a Dividend of 0.08 Euros per Share is Expected

The Executive Board and Supervisory Board will propose a dividend of 0.08 euros per eligible A-share to the Annual General Meeting on June 13, 2024. With this, HHLA confirms its dividend policy of distributing between 50 and 70 percent of the relevant net profit of the Port Logistics sub-group to its shareholders.

Photo: © HHLA/Thies Rätzke / Caption: Container Terminal Tollerort