Overall view

Despite a gloomier market environment in the second half of the year, the HHLA Group developed very successfully in 2018. There was a slight increase in container throughput due to the consistently positive trend in Far East volumes and the successful integration of Estonia’s largest terminal operator, TK Estonia, acquired during the reporting period. Container transport managed to repeat the strong results of the previous year, driven mainly by rail transport. Developments at HHLA’s two largest segments led to moderate growth in revenue at Group level. The operating result (EBIT) was well above the prior-year figure, as around € 25 million was expensed in the previous year for organisational restructuring and the harmonisation of pension schemes. But even adjusted for this effect, there was still moderate growth in the operating result (EBIT) above the level of revenue growth.

As there were no significant events in the 2018 financial year, the disclosures made by the HHLA Executive Board in the 2017 Annual Report concerning the expected course of business in 2018 remained valid throughout the reporting period. Guidance was confirmed by and, in some cases, even exceeded by the actual figures. The HHLA Group continued to scale its capital expenditure to actual needs during the reporting period. Delays to individual projects resulted in postponements until 2019.

As a result of its business trend in 2018, HHLA’s financial position at the end of the reporting period on 31 December 2018 remained stable. Changes in the capital structure due to borrowing led to a decrease of 1.6 percentage points in the equity ratio to 31.2 % (previous year: 32.8 %), while the gearing ratio rose from 2.3 to 2.5. There were no further refinancing needs as of the balance sheet date.