Hapag-Lloyd has reported that its transport volume has increased by 24.4% from 5.65 million TEU to 7.03 million TEU in the first nine months of 2017.
The container shipping company added that its integration with United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), which gave it the fifth biggest fleet by vessel capacity earlier this year, is on schedule for completion by the end of 2017.
Hapag-Lloyd also reported that transport expenses, excluding bunker costs, rose by 17.8% – due to cost savings as well as additional fleet and network optimization.
Its third quarter of 2017 has seen a significant positive group net profit and an improved operating result (EBIT).
For the third quarter the net profit amounted to EUR 54.3 million ($64 million) (prior-year period: EUR 8.2 million ($96.7 million)), the EBIT rose to EUR 180.6 million (212.9million) (prior-year period: EUR 65.6 million ($77.3 million)), and the EBITDA stood at EUR 361.5 million ($426.3 million) (prior-year period: EUR 184.6 million ($217.7million)).
Lars Jensen, CEO, SeaIntelligence, recently forecasted the industry’s developments as far into the future as 2025 in his 'Liner Shipping in 2025' technical paper
Hapag-Lloyd reported that its freight rates continued to recover in the third quarter, standing at 1,060 USD/TEU after nine months (prior-year period: 1,037 USD/TEU).
It added that the basic parameters for the 2017 forecast remain unchanged from those published in the 2017 half-year financial statement, with a significant rise in transport volumes, a significant rise in bunker price and an unchanged average freight rate.
Hapag-Lloyd also said it expects EBITDA and EBIT to rise significantly.
Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd AG, said: “The good operating result that we have achieved after three quarters is not only due to the positive development of the global economy and the increasing global container transportation volume.
“The quick and smooth integration of UASC into the Hapag-Lloyd Group has also played a crucial role. We have already been able to realize the first synergies resulting from the merger which will help us to further solidify our position in the sector.”