Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) has reported a decline in revenue and profits performance in the first nine months (9M) of 2023.
The listed Port Logistics subgroup recorded a decrease of 7.4 per cent in revenue to €1.06 billion ($1.14 billion) in the first nine months, with the previous year standing at €1.14 billion ($1.23 billion).
The operational result (EBIT) fell by 57.3 per cent to €61.8 million ($73.8 million), compared to €145.3 million ($157 million) the previous year.
In a year-on-year (YoY) comparison, the EBIT margin was 5.8 per cent, down 6.9 percentage points.
Profit after tax and minority interests fell by 94.9 per cent to €3.1 million ($3.3 million), down from €61.3 million ($66.4 million) the previous year.
In the container segment, container throughput at HHLA’s container terminals decreased year-on-year by 8.5 per cent to 4.45 million TEU (previous year: 4.86 million TEU).
At 4.28 million TEU, throughput volume at the Hamburg container terminals was down 6.9 per cent on the same period last year (previous year: 4.6 million TEU).
READ: HHLA lowers forecast for 2023
The major cause of this shift, according to HHLA, is the reduction in Far East shipping volumes, particularly in China.
Furthermore, HHLA highlighted that the positive momentum from North American cargo volumes and Middle Eastern throughput levels were unable to counteract this trend.
Feeder traffic was also significantly lower than the previous year. In addition to the decrease in Swedish and Polish traffic, the sanctions caused a drop in Russian traffic.
READ: Russia sanctions weigh on HHLA H1 performance
Throughput volume at HHLA’s international container terminals plummeted 36 per cent YoY to 169 thousand TEU (previous year: 264 thousand TEU), while sector income fell 18.2 per cent to €534.3 million ($581 million), down from €653.2 million ($710 million) in the previous year.
Angela Titzrath, Chief Executive Officer, said: “The subdued economic situation continues to impact HHLA’s business activities as an international logistics company. The resulting challenging macroeconomic framework conditions are therefore also reflected in the company’s results after the third quarter.”
