Overall view of the course of business

The development of the HHLA Group in the 2023 financial year fell short of expectations. The ongoing war in Ukraine, the military escalation in the Middle East, rising geopolitical tensions, high inflation and interest rate hikes impacted the economy and continued to impede the recovery from the pandemic. This economic weakness is clearly reflected in the Group’s earnings.

As of the balance sheet date, 31 December 2023, HHLA’s economic and financial position proved to be stable. The equity ratio decreased by 4.7 percentage points to 26.8 % (previous year: 31.5 %). The gearing ratio rose from 3.4 to 5.5. There were no further refinancing needs as of the balance sheet date.

During the reporting period, there were no changes in HHLA’s operating environment that had a significant impact on its results of operations, net assets and financial position. Significant events and transactions are reported in the section Notes on the Reporting.

The guidance for 2023 published in the 2022 Annual Report was subject to a high degree of uncertainty due to the uncertainty of future average revenues and macroeconomic developments. With the publication of the interim statement for January to March 2023, this guidance was partially adjusted due to the divergent development at segment level: expected container throughput was downgraded and revenue at Group level and for the Port Logistics subgroup upgraded. Based on the preliminary figures for the year available after the first half of the year, full-year guidance for 2023 was once again significantly adjusted in an ad hoc statement on 27 July 2023. In light of the sharply downward volume trend due to the macroeconomic development, expectations for performance data, container handling and container transport were lowered. Moreover, guidance for the development of revenue and EBIT at Group level and for the Port Logistics subgroup was downgraded. With the publication of the interim statement for January to September 2023, the outlook for container transport and the EBIT contribution of the Intermodal segment was downgraded. At the same time, anticipated capital expenditure at Group level and for the Port Logistics subgroup was raised due to catch-up investments from the previous year.