HHLA share

German share markets make gains with high volatility

Despite generally weak economic growth, the German stock markets were dominated by significant share price gains in 2025. Sentiment was buoyed by persistently strong inflows of international capital into European equities, increased risk tolerance among investors, and the fiscal policy stimuli provided by new government investment programmes in Germany.

After a strong first quarter, there were signs of increased volatility at the start of the second quarter due to protectionist US tariffs and geopolitical tensions. As a result, the DAX sank to its year-low of 19,671 points in April. As the year progressed, however, a rapid recovery ensued and the blue-chip index had already crossed the 24,000-point threshold by late May. Nevertheless, the market continued to be shaped by geopolitical instability, fluctuating economic data and monetary policy discussions over the following months. This volatility noticeably gathered pace in the third quarter.

Share price development 2025

In spite of this, the German stock markets proved generally robust. This sentiment was aided by positive company news, particularly from the technology and industry sectors, as well as by increasingly stable inflation. In early October, the DAX reached its year-high of 24,611 points. As the fourth quarter progressed, the DAX stabilised at a high of around 24,000 points due to lower interest rate forecasts and improved market sentiment, enabling it to close the year at 24,490 points. This represented year-on-year growth of 23.0 %. The SDAX rose by 25.3 % to 18,207 points.

HHLA share follows positive market trend

The HHLA share performed very well overall in 2025, largely in line with the market environment. The shares initially hovered around the 2024 year-end closing price of € 17.68 but benefited from the upbeat market sentiment. Over the course of the first quarter, however, it subsequently drifted back towards the takeover price of € 16.75, reaching a year-low of € 16.22 on 4 April. Starting in spring, there followed a significant upward trend – bolstered by sound quarterly figures, a positive forecast and the expectation of potential structural measures in connection with the majority shareholding held by Port of Hamburg Beteiligungsgesellschaft SE (PoH).

Two capital market announcements were published in the second half of June in which the majority shareholder called for a reduction in the proposed dividend from € 0.16 to € 0.10 per share in order to strengthen the company’s equity base and increase liquidity. At the same time, the Supervisory Board agreed with CEO Angela Titzrath that she would leave HHLA by the end of the year. Although both matters prompted increased media coverage, they had no lasting effect on the share price.

With the announcement of Jeroen Eijsink as successor to the position of Chairman of the Executive Board on 30 July 2025, the share price rose to over € 21 for the first time and stabilised at this level for the rest of the year. The share price even remained firm after the capital market announcement in October, in which throughput and earnings expectations for 2025 were downgraded to reflect increased macroeconomic instability, particularly due to US trade policies, as well as the ongoing disruption to supply chains and extensive modification measures for the automation of the Hamburg facilities. Overall, the share price developed in line with the positive market trend and benefited from a stable environment.

The HHLA share closed the year at € 21.40 and was thus 21.0 % up on the year-end price of the previous year. For more information on the share price performance and the HHLA share, please visit www.hhla.de/investoren.

MSC acquires stake in HHLA

In September 2023, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (FHH) agreed to a strategic investment in HHLA by the MSC Group as part of an investment agreement with MSC. To this end, the Port of Hamburg Beteiligungsgesellschaft SE (PoH) was founded in order to pool the HHLA shares and in which the City of Hamburg and MSC (both indirectly) were to hold 50.1 % and 49.9 %, respectively, of the shares in the target structure. To acquire the remaining class A shares in HHLA, an agreement was also made that PoH would make a public takeover bid to HHLA’s class A shareholders.

Shareholder structure for listed class A shares

The PoH public takeover bid was published in October 2023. With the approval of the Hamburg Parliament, the European Commission and various merger control authorities, the first part of the transaction was completed in November 2024. As part of a capital increase against contributions in kind by PoH, all class A shares held by the City of Hamburg and MSC were transferred to PoH.

With regard to the listed class A shares, PoH remained the company’s largest shareholder with a stake of 94.82 % as of 31 December 2025 (previous year: 93.78 %). The free float portion of the class A shares thus continued to decrease over the course of the year to 5.18 % (previous year: 6.17 %).

In terms of the HHLA Group’s share capital, PoH held 91.41 % of the shares in HHLA as of 31 December 2025 (previous year: 90.41 %). The free float portion accounted for 5.00 % of the Group’s share capital (previous year: 5.95 %).

On 5 January 2026, PoH notified the Executive Board that it held more than 95 % of the HHLA shares and that it was aiming to acquire the remaining class A shares of minority shareholders for an appropriate cash compensation (squeeze-out as per Section 327a AktG). The cash compensation amount is determined on the basis of a company valuation and reviewed by a court-appointed auditor. The squeeze-out becomes effective with a resolution of the Annual General Meeting and entry into the commercial register.

For more information on the shareholder structure, please visit the HHLA website. https://hhla.de/en/investors/share/shareholder-structure

Virtual Annual General Meeting 2025

The Annual General Meeting was once again held as a virtual event on 3 July 2025. The shareholders formally approved the actions of HHLA’s Executive Board and Supervisory Board for the 2024 financial year. The proposal of PoH for the payment of a dividend of € 0.10 (previous year: € 0.08) per listed class A share was also approved. HHLA therefore distributed dividends to its class A shareholders totalling € 7.3 million (previous year: € 5.8 million). To protect liquidity and secure investment funds, the dividend payout ratio of 31 % of the annual net profit after minority interests was therefore at the lower end of the dividend payout range of 50 to 70 %.

The dividends were paid out to the shareholders on 7 July 2025. Based on its closing price of € 18.95 on the day of the Annual General Meeting, the HHLA share achieved a dividend yield of 0.5 %.

Dividend proposal for the 2025 financial year

In view of the level of the profit after tax and minority interests in the 2025 financial year, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board will propose to the Annual General Meeting, that no dividend per dividend‑entitled class A share be paid for the 2025 financial year (prior year: € 0.10).

Sustainability reporting and ratings

As a responsible company, HHLA has been reporting extensively on its non-financial performance since 2011 and has been submitting its non-financial statement as part of the Group management report since 2022. In doing so, HHLA goes beyond the legally mandated reporting requirements and is applying the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) in its report for the first time this year. Group non-financial statement

HHLA also champions the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations. Corporate and sustainability strategy

Based on this information, HHLA’s sustainability credentials are regularly evaluated by ESG ratings agencies, such as MSCI, ISS-oekom, S&P Global Ratings ESG and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). In the CDP ranking for the 2024 financial year, HHLA achieved a “B” rating. www.hhla.de/investoren/equity-story/nachhaltig-investieren