Annual Report 2023

Market environment
Major achievements
Results
  • Continuing war in Ukraine, geopolitical tensions, stubborn inflation and rising interest rates continued to dampen purchasing patterns of consumers and industry and led to reduced trade volumes
  • Container dwell times in the ports normalized
  • MSC Group submitted voluntary public takeover offer for class A shares; tendered shares amounted of 10.1 % of class A share capital
  • Closing of CSPL’s minority shareholding in CTT
  • Hamburg terminals: automation of block storage and development of AGV area on track
  • METRANS expands its HHLA Pure network in Europe
  • Container throughput down 7.5 %; container transport decreased by 5.4 %
  • Revenue and EBIT impacted by drop in volumes and decline in storage fees
  • Capex in line with planning to implement further automation of Container terminals
  • Dividend proposal of € 0.08 per class A share

Foreword

Angela Titzrath

Chief Executive Officer

Undaunted by the challenging environment, HHLA continued to press ahead with its investments in modernisation, sustainability initiatives and new growth areas in 2023.
Foreword

Key figures 2023

Group
Port Logistics
Real Estate

5,917

- 7.5 %

Container throughput
in TEU thousand

1,602

- 5.4 %

Container transport
in TEU thousand

1,446.8

- 8.3 %

Revenue
in € million

109.4

- 50.4 %

EBIT
in € million

7.6

- 6.4 pp

EBIT margin
in %

20.0

- 78.5 %

Profit after tax and
minority interests
in € million

To the Income statement

1,408.9

- 8.6 %

Revenue
in € million

92.9

- 53.9 %

EBIT
in € million

6.6

- 6.5 pp

EBIT margin
in %

0.12

- 89.4 %

Earnings per share
in €

To the Income statement

46.5

+ 5.3 %

Revenue
in € million

16.1

- 12.5 %

EBIT
in € million

34.7

- 7.1 pp

EBIT margin
in %

4.17

- 6.3 %

Earnings per share
in €

To the Income statement

Sustainability

Ecology
Society
Economy

By 38.1 %

absolute CO2e emissions have
decreased since 2018 (base year)

By 2040

HHLA intends to
operate climate-neutral

By 38.1 %

absolute CO2e emissions have
decreased since 2018 (base year)

By 2040

HHLA intends to
operate climate-neutral

Climate protection and the careful stewardship of natural resources are of particular importance for HHLA since terminals near cities need to be planned and operated with the environment especially in mind. HHLA wants to have cut its total CO2e emissions at least in half by 2030, and be climate-neutral by 2040.

Ecology

6,789

+ 2.2 %

Number of employees

5.0 million

invested in educating
and training in 2023

6,789

+ 2.2 %

Number of employees

5.0 million

invested in educating
and training in 2023

Highly competent and hard-working employees form the foundation of our success. HHLA’s aims to provide its services predominantly with its own personnel, to secure employment in the long term and help to enable its employees perform their roles skillfully as they deal with current and future challenges. Additionally, HHLA supports a large number of educational projects, especially for school children, and contributes to social responsibility through an active dialogue on topics relating to the port industry.

Society

644.0 million

- 16.9 %

Value added

644.0 million

- 16.9 %

Value added

Net value added serves as an indicator for the economic added value generated by HHLA. Added value is shared between employees, shareholders, the state (taxes) and lenders. The largest proportion of 88.5 % went to employees.

Innovation

HHLA Segments

Container

708.8

Revenue
in € million

49 %

Share of revenue

708.8

Revenue
in € million

49 %

Share of revenue

HHLA’s container terminals link ships, rail freight and trucks to create an efficient transport chain. The terminals in Hamburg form the most important European hub between Asia and Central/Eastern Europe. HHLA also operates a container terminal in the Ukrainian city of Odessa, Tallinn in Estonia and Trieste in Italy.

To the Container segment

Intermodal

620.5

Revenue
in € million

43 %

Share of revenue

620.5

Revenue
in € million

43 %

Share of revenue

HHLA’s rail companies operate a comprehensive transport and terminal network for container transportation and connect ports on the North and Baltic seas, as well as the Northern Adriatic, with their hinterland. Truck transports in the local area and in European long-distance traffic as well as transhipments in the Port of Hamburg round off the service portfolio.

To the Intermodal segment

Logistics

78.2

Revenue
in € million

5 %

Share of revenue

78.2

Revenue
in € million

5 %

Share of revenue

In this segment, HHLA pools a wide range of port-related services such as dry bulk, vehicle and fruit logistics. Process automation, air-based logistics services and other digital services for the intermodal sector complement the range of services. HHLA also markets its expertise in infrastructure and project development internationally.

To the Logistics segment

Real Estate

46.5

Revenue
in € million

3 %

Share of revenue

46.5

Revenue
in € million

3 %

Share of revenue

With the long-term development of the landmarked Speicherstadt historical warehouse district as well as the Hamburg Fish Market on the banks of the River Elbe in Altona, HHLA is committed to a site development that is in line with the market and geared towards sustainability.

To the Real Estate segment

Focus

Faces of HHLA

Overview

Gateway to the future

Gateway to the future

Overview

Gateway to the future

Gateway to the future
Shaping the future of logistics is a priority at HHLA. That’s why our employees all over Europe are developing solutions today that will allow us to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.
Read more about the gateway to the futureGateway to the future
Collage of five HHLA employees (three women, two men) (Photo)
Collage of five HHLA employees (three women, two men) (Photo)

Building the future

Building the future

Building the future

Building the future
30 percent of civil engineers in Germany are female. One of them is Christina Mügge, who started dreaming of working at the port with HHLA from an early age.
Read more about building the futureBuilding the future
Christina Mügge, a project engineer at HHLA, stands at the Container Terminal in Hamburg. (Photo)
Christina Mügge, a project engineer at HHLA, stands at the Container Terminal in Hamburg. (Photo)

Lifelong learning

Lifelong learning

Lifelong learning

Lifelong learning
Fevzi Karatay, known by everyone as “Fips”, has experienced the major changes at the Port of Hamburg first hand since the 1980s. The port has evolved – and so has Fips.
Read more about lifelong learningLifelong learning
Fevzi
Fevzi

An international start

An international start

An international start

An international start
Stefanie Lange has been working on the implementation of an optical character recognition system (OCR) at HHLA PLT Italy in Trieste since October 2022. A project abroad right after her studies – and she seized the opportunity.
Read more about an international startAn international start
Stefanie Lange, project coordinator of a project, stands next to the optical character recognition system in Trieste. (Photo)
Stefanie Lange, project coordinator of a project, stands next to the optical character recognition system in Trieste. (Photo)

Excavator executive

Excavator executive

Excavator executive

Excavator executive
Liivika Mäemurd has finished her work for the day on the wheel loader. Using the bucket of the powerful machine, she piled up gravel and then loaded the construction material onto a dump truck.
Read more about the excavator executiveExcavator executive
Liivika Mäemurd, crane operator HHLA TK Estonia, stands in front of a yellow wheel loader in Estonia. (Photo)
Liivika Mäemurd, crane operator HHLA TK Estonia, stands in front of a yellow wheel loader in Estonia. (Photo)

Green light for freight trains

Green light for freight trains

Green light for freight trains

Green light for freight trains
Transporting containers on rails in a climate-friendly and reliable way across Europe – that is the responsibility of Matej Franc as Head of Rail Operations at Metrans Danubia in Slovakia.
Read more about green light for freight trainsGreen light for freight trains
Matej Franc, Head of Rail Operations at Metrans Danubia in Slovakia, stands in front of an unloaded container train. (Photo)
Matej Franc, Head of Rail Operations at Metrans Danubia in Slovakia, stands in front of an unloaded container train. (Photo)

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