Hapag-Lloyd has posted preliminary first-half earnings figures that outstripped the analyst consensus by 25%.
The German container line said Ebitda was €1.15bn ($1.3bn) to 30 June, beating the previous year's figure of €956m.
The Ebitda figure implies a result of €680m for the second quarter, which is much higher than Norwegian investment bank Clarksons Platou Securities' estimate of €461m.
Clarksons Platou's managing director of research, Frode Morkedal, said the result was "notably stronger than expected".
He had factored in an 11.7% year-on-year drop in volumes for the second quarter, and a 0.4% decline in average freight rates.
"If we assume a slight gain in freight rates (up 0.6% year on year) and volumes down only 1% year on year, we arrive at the implied guidance for 2Q," Morkedal added.
"There are other elements such as lower costs that can help explain the apparent beat, but the guidance does, in our view, indicate much better utilisation and volume development in 2Q than assumed."
Hapag-Lloyd has left its annual Ebitda forecast unchanged at between €1.7bn and €2.2bn.
But the company warned: "Against the background of the still prevailing high risks with regard to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and the related economic consequences, the forecast is subject to significant uncertainties."
Potential upside in 2020
Clarksons Platou said that, based on the positive guidance and freight rate developments so far in the third quarter, it sees upside potential to the high end of that annual forecast range.
Analyst consensus for full-year Ebitda is €1.8bn.
The Hamburg-based liner operator said earlier this year that group net profit slid to €25m for the quarter ending 31 March, down from €96m in the previous corresponding period.
The drop was blamed on higher bunker prices after the introduction of the International Maritime Organizations feul sulphur cap rules at the beginning of the year.
