1. Basic Information on the Group

The Group’s parent company is Hamburger Hafen und Logistik Aktiengesellschaft, Bei St. Annen 1, 20457 Hamburg (in the following, HHLA or the Group), registered in the Hamburg Commercial Register under HRB 1902. The holding company above the Group is HGV Hamburger Gesellschaft für Vermögens- und Beteiligungsmanagement mbH, Hamburg (HGV).

Since 1 January 2007, the Group has consisted of the Port Logistics subgroup (A division) and the Real Estate subgroup (S division). The part of the Group that deals with the property in Hamburg’s Speicherstadt historical warehouse district and Fischmarkt Hamburg-Altona GmbH is allocated to the Real Estate subgroup (S division). All other parts of the company are allocated together to the Port Logistics subgroup (A division). Individual Financial Statements are prepared for each division to determine the shareholders’ dividend entitlements; these, in line with the company’s articles of association, form part of the Notes to the Annual Financial Statements of the parent company.

Information concerning the segments in which the HHLA Group operates is provided in Note 44.

When the shareholders’ dividend entitlements are being determined, the expenses and income of HHLA which cannot be attributed directly to one subgroup are divided between the two subgroups according to their shares of revenue. All transfer pricing for services between the two subgroups takes place on an arm’s length basis. Interest must be paid at market rates on liquid funds exchanged between the two subgroups. A notional taxable result is calculated for each subgroup to allocate the taxes paid. The resulting notional tax payment represents the amount of tax which would have been paid had each of the subgroups been separately liable for tax.

To illustrate the earnings, net assets and financial position of the subgroups, the annex to these Notes contains the income statement, the statement of comprehensive income, the balance sheet, the cash flow statement and the statement of changes in equity for each subgroup.

HHLA’s Consolidated Financial Statements for the 2017 financial year were prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) which apply in the European Union. The provisions contained in Section 315e (1) of the German Commercial Code (HGB) and additional commercial law regulations were also taken into account. The IFRS requirements have been met in full and result in a true and fair view of the earnings, net assets and financial position of the Group.

For the most part, the accounting and valuation policies, notes and disclosures about the Consolidated Financial Statements for the 2017 financial year are based on the same accounting and valuation principles used for the 2016 Consolidated Financial Statements. Exceptions are the effects of new IFRS accounting standards stated in Note 5. Use of the latter became mandatory for the Group on 1 January 2017. The accounting and valuation principles applied are explained in Note 6.

The financial year as reported by HHLA and its consolidated subsidiaries is the calendar year. The Consolidated Financial Statements and the disclosures in the Notes have been prepared in euros. Unless otherwise stated, all amounts are in thousands of euros (€ thousand). Due to the use of rounding procedures, it is possible that some figures do not add up to the stated sums.

These HHLA Consolidated Financial Statements for the financial year ending 31 December 2017 were approved by the Executive Board on 1 March 2018 for presentation to the Supervisory Board. It is the Supervisory Board’s responsibility to examine the Consolidated Financial Statements and to state whether or not it approves them.