Intermodal segment

In the highly competitive market for container traffic in the hinterland of major seaports, the transport volumes of HHLA’s transport companies remained unchanged from the previous year at 1,480 thousand standard containers (TEU). Within the segment, however, the trend was uneven. Rail transportation rose year-on-year by a further 2.5 % to 1,168 thousand TEU (previous year: 1,140 thousand TEU). In particular, there was above-average growth in connections between the north German seaports, the Adriatic ports and the Central and Eastern Europe hinterland. There was also a further increase in continental cargo volumes. Transport volumes in Poland decreased significantly as a result of the scheduled realignment of POLZUG activities. Due to a significant decrease in freight volume in the greater Hamburg area, road transport fell by 8.3 % year-on-year to 312 thousand TEU (previous year: 340 thousand TEU).

Container transport

in thousand TEU

With growth of 4.8 % to € 433.8 million (previous year: € 414.0 million), revenue performed much better than transport volumes. This positive revenue trend resulted from a slight increase in rail’s share of HHLA’s total intermodal transportation from 77.0 % to 78.9 %, in combination with longer transport distances.

The operating result (EBIT) increased year-on-year to € 89.1 million (previous year: € 69.9 million). In addition to the positive trend in average revenues due to changes in the transport mix, the rise in EBIT was also attributable to lower depreciation and amortisation charges caused by an adjustment to the useful lives of container transport wagons. The terminal in Budapest, which started operations in mid-2017, also had a positive impact on the efficiency of HHLA’s intermodal network. The EBIT margin rose by 3.6 percentage points to 20.5 % (previous year: 16.9 %).

HHLA continues to invest as needed in the expansion of its intermodal network. The decrease in route prices for German rail freight applied retroactively as of mid-2018 is bolstering the development of the intermodal service portfolio. HHLA’s rail subsidiary METRANS put ten new multi-system locomotives into operation during 2018. It now has 85 shunters and locomotives as well as a fleet of over 2,800 container wagons. The network consists of 14 terminals in the hinterland, of which five function as large hub terminals.

In the past financial year, the activities of POLZUG (now METRANS Polonia) were fully integrated into the METRANS organisation. By pooling activities, the company was able to streamline its structures and processes, thereby enabling synergies to be realised. During the reporting period, HHLA also increased its stake in METRANS a.s., Prague, Czech Republic, and now holds 100 % of shares in the company.