Real Estate segment

In the fourth quarter, Hamburg’s office rental market confirmed its significant recovery trend of the previous quarters. According to Grossmann & Berger’s latest market report, 490,000 m² of office space was let in 2021; 44.1 % up on the very weak and pandemic-related prior-year figure. By contrast, the vacancy rate in Hamburg increased slightly year-on-year to 3.8 % (previous year: 3.5 %).

HHLA’s properties in the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district and the fish market area, which were much less affected by strong market fluctuations during the Covid-19 pandemic, continued to make steady progress in the fourth quarter with almost full occupancy. Revenue remained stable in 2021 and matched the previous year’s figure at € 38.1 million. The revenue-based rent agreements, which due to the pandemic were only reactivated during the course of the year, and a planned revenue shortfall caused by the renovation of a property could be offset by increased rental income from individual properties.

With a moderate decrease in maintenance volumes, the cumulative operating result (EBIT) increased strongly by 18.0 % to € 15.3 million as of year-end (previous year: € 12.9 million). This was primarily due to other operating income from the correction in the previous year due to receivables written down in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.