Germany liner operator Hapag-Lloyd has closed the 2022 financial year with a profit of over $20bn.
But the downturn in the container shipping markets saw rates and revenues drop in the fourth quarter of the year.
The Hamburg-based carrier concluded the year to the end of December with an Ebitda of $20.5bn — up from $12.8bn in 2021.
The figure is slap bang in the middle of what the carrier was projecting last July.
Ebit rose to $18.5bn and revenues climbed to $36.5bn, according to preliminary and unaudited figures published today.
The stunning performance was largely due to the higher freight rates. Average freight rates rose to $2,863 per teu, up 43% from the previous year.
Tide has turned
The slide in container freight rates over the past six months is, however, already starting to impact the company’s bottom line.
Average freight rates were down to $2,625 per teu in the fourth quarter. The decline was driven by easing congestion and lower demand.
That resulted in a 19% drop in Ebitda to $3.8bn in the final quarter of 2022, down from $4.7bn in the same quarter of 2021.
Ebit dropped to $3.3bn in the quarter, down from $4.2bn in the previous corresponding period.
Disruptions in global supply chains and inflation have led to a significant increase in costs, the company said.
Transport volumes for the full year were roughly on par with the prior year at 11.8m teu and 2.9m for the fourth quarter.
The Rolf Habben Jansen-led company is putting its windfall earnings to good use, most recently with a series of acquisitions in the terminal sector.
Last week, the company agreed to buy a 35% stake in growing Indian terminal operator JM Baxi Ports & Logistics Ltd from an affiliate of US private equity Bain Capital Private Equity.
That followed an agreement to acquire the terminal business of Chile-based SM SAAM as well as stakes in Italy-based Spinelli Group and other terminals in Germany, Morocco and Egypt.
Hapag-Lloyd will publish audited figures for the full year on 2 March.
