45. Leases

Leases as a lessee

For further information on leases within the HHLA Group, please see Note 6, Note 12, Note 14, Note 16, Note 23, Note 38 and Note 40.

Basic recognition of leases

Pursuant to IFRS 16, all leases must be recognised on the balance sheet. The following significant leases currently exist within the HHLA Group:

The Group has concluded various lease agreements for a number of properties and technical facilities as well as operating and office equipment. Among other things, these agreements relate to land, quay walls, lifting and ground-handling vehicles, container wagons and chassis, as well as IT hardware. In some cases, they include renewal and put options. The renewal options are always for the lessee; the put options can be exercised by the respective lessor. There were no put options during the reporting year.

LEASES RECOGNISED UNDER LIABILITIES TO RELATED PARTIES

The Group rents mega-ship berths from the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA), the owner of the port areas which is also a related party; see Note 48. While the fixed lease initially runs until 2036, HHLA anticipates that the lease terms of these assets will extend over 50 years (as in the past). The agreements make provisions for the allocation of liability in the event of nullity and the associated premature termination of the lease as a result of conflict with EU law. The Executive Board of HHLA currently regards the risk of a conflict with EU law as very low. In both 2021 and 2022, adjustments were made to lease obligations for mega-ship berths as a result of the contractually agreed change in refinancing interest rates.

Agreements exist between the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and/or HPA and the HHLA Group regarding the lease of land and quay walls in the Port of Hamburg and the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district by companies in the HHLA Group. The main contracts expire between 2025 and 2036. Under the terms of the agreements, lease payments are generally reviewed every five years on the basis of price developments in relevant competing ports or based on appropriate rental indices. The expected interest rate increases for the past periods and the expected interest rate increases up until 2026 have been taken into consideration accordingly in these consolidated financial statements. Leasing expenses for space in the Speicherstadt historical warehouse district are partly linked to the development of Group income from subletting these buildings.

Without the prior approval of the lessor, leased areas may not be re-let and the buildings on them belonging to HHLA may not be sold or let. Major changes to the terms of subletting agreements also require the prior approval of the lessor.

LEASES RECOGNISED UNDER NON-CURRENT AND CURRENT FINANCIAL LIABILITIES

Leases relating to real estate and movable property are in place at HHLA PLT Italy S.r.l., Trieste, Italy. On the whole, the rents payable for this are fixed and will only change during the course of the agreement as a result of any future inflation. The company does not have purchase options at the end of the lease agreements. The respective lease agreements have remaining terms of between three and 41 years. The concession agreement was extended until 2064.

Logistica Giuliana S.r.l., Trieste, Italy, holds property leases. On the whole, the rents payable for this are fixed and will only change during the course of the agreement as a result of any future inflation. The company does not have purchase options at the end of the lease agreements. The remaining term of the concession agreement is 44 years. The concession agreement was extended until 2067.

In addition, leases relating to real estate and movable property are in place at the container terminal in Odessa, Ukraine. On the whole, the rents payable for this are fixed and will only change during the course of the agreement as a result of future inflation. The company does not have purchase options at the end of the lease agreements. The respective lease agreements have terms of between one and 33 years and end in 2044 at the latest.

There are also significant leases for real estate at the container terminal in Tallinn, Estonia. On the whole, the rents payable for this are fixed and will only change during the course of the agreement as a result of future inflation. The company does not have purchase options at the end of the lease agreements. The respective lease agreements will expire in 2062.

The METRANS Group has concluded lease agreements for various items of movable property. These leases have an average term of three to ten years, and some include renewal options. The leases concluded for individual items of real estate have a term of up to 30 years, and some of them also include renewal options. The lessee accepts no obligations whatsoever when signing these leases. The METRANS Group also rents terminal facilities for periods of between ten and 30 years as part of concession agreements.

Short-term lease agreements and leases for low-value assets

The Group rents technical equipment, motor vehicles, IT equipment, office furniture, etc. for terms of between one and three years. These lease agreements are either short term and/or pertain to items of low value. In such cases, HHLA reports neither the rights of use nor lease liabilities. The following table shows the effects of leases on the income statement and other comprehensive income:

Future unrecognised cash outflows

The table below shows the future cash outflows which may be incurred by the lessee and which may not have been recognised when measuring the lease liability:

Leases as a lessor

The Group has signed lease agreements for letting its investment properties on a commercial basis; see Note 24. HHLA categorises these leases as operating leases because virtually none of the risks and potential rewards associated with ownership are transferred to the Group. The investment properties consist of office space, facilities and one commercial property not used by the Group. These leases have remaining non-cancellable lease terms of between one and twelve years. At the end of the non-cancellable lease period, some contracts give tenants the option of extending the lease for a period of between one year and a maximum of three times five years. Some leases contain a clause under which the rent can be increased in line with market conditions.

During the financial year, income of € 68,004 thousand (previous year: € 66,021 thousand) was earned from letting property, plant and equipment and investment property.

The table below is a maturity analysis of the receivables from operating leases. It shows the undiscounted lease payments to be received at the end of the reporting period.

From the lessor’s perspective, there are no lease agreements categorised as finance leases.