Financial Position

Balance Sheet Analysis

Compared with year-end 2017, the HHLA Group’s balance sheet total decreased slightly as of the reporting date to € 1,797.7 million.

Non-current assets rose by 4.7 % to € 1,412.0 million (31 December 2017: € 1,348.0 million). The increase is chiefly attributable to the first-time consolidation of Transiidikeskuse AS and the associated increase in property, plant and equipment of € 62.3 million, as well as the increase in intangible assets (including goodwill) of € 19.3 million. There was an opposing effect from the scheduled depreciation of property, plant and equipment. Financial assets also decreased by € 6.2 million.

At € 385.7 million as of 30 June 2018, current assets were € 101.6 million below the corresponding figure as of 31 December 2017 (€ 487.3 million). This decline resulted partly from a reduction of € 103.7 million in cash and cash equivalents, as well as a drop of € 42.2 million in receivables from related parties due to a reduction in overnight deposits available on demand. The decrease in cash and cash equivalents and the aforementioned overnight deposits available on demand is mainly due to the acquisition of Transiidikeskuse AS and the takeover of the remaining shares in the METRANS Group. This was offset by a rise of € 25.3 million in trade receivables, as well as an increase of € 18.9 million in other financial receivables.

Equity declined by € 29.9 million to € 572.5 million as of the reporting date (31 December 2017: € 602.4 million). This decrease resulted mainly from the payment for the acquisition of further shares in METRANS a.s. amounting to € 49.9 million, as well as the payment of dividends totalling € 52.3 million. Net profit in the reporting period of € 68.8 million made a positive contribution to equity. The equity ratio decreased to 31.8 % in total (31 December 2017: 32.8 %).

The € 18.5 million increase in non-current liabilities to € 1,012.3 million compared to the the year-end figure (31 December 2017: € 993.8 million) is chiefly due to an increase in pension provisions of € 15.1 million and an increase of € 5.6 million in non-current financial liabilities.

Current liabilities fell by € 26.2 million to € 212.9 million (31 December 2017: € 239.1 million). This was mainly due to the decrease in current financial liabilities of € 32.5 million and the decrease in other current provisions of € 13.3 million. There was an opposing effect from the increase in other liabilities of € 13.7 million, as well as from an increase in trade liabilities of € 8.7 million.

Investment Analysis

Capital expenditure in the reporting period totalled € 44.2 million, well below last year’s figure of € 63.6 million. Property, plant and equipment accounted for €  37.8 million (previous year: € 61.4 million) of capital expenditure, while investments in intangible assets made up €  6.4 million (previous year: € 2.2 million). The majority of this capital expenditure was for replacement investments.

Capital expenditure in the first half of 2018 focused on the procurement of large-scale equipment for horizontal transport, the expansion of infrastructure at the HHLA container terminals in the Port of Hamburg and the acquisition of new wagons at METRANS.

Liquidity Analysis

Cash flow from operating activities declined by € 52.2 million to € 95.9 million as of 30 June 2018 (previous year: € 148.1 million). The changes in trade receivables and in other financial receivables led to a decrease in operating cash flow. 

Investing activities led to cash outflows of € 84.8 million (previous year: € 56.3 million). The increase in payment volumes of € 28.5 million was primarily attributable to the acquisition of all shares in Transiidikeskuse AS, which totalled € 72.0 million excluding acquired cash and cash equivalents. This was offset by reduced investments in property, plant and equipment, as well as increased proceeds from short-term deposits.

Free cash flow, which is the total cash flow from operating and investing activities, amounted to € 11.1 million at the end of the reporting period (previous year: € 91.8 million) and was therefore down by € 80.7 million year-on-year.

The cash outflow from financing activities amounted to € 140.1 million as of 30 June 2018 (previous year: € 93.6 million), an increase of € 46.5 million. A payment was made to acquire minority interests in METRANS a.s., Prague, Czech Republic, in the current reporting year. However, proceeds from new loans had the opposing effect in the reporting period.

As of the reporting date, the changes described above resulted in financial funds of € 127.4 million (30 June 2017: € 230.1 million), which were thus considerably lower than at the beginning of the year (31 December 2017: € 255.5 million). The Group’s available liquidity as of 30 June 2018 totalled € 127.4 million (30 June 2017: € 240.1 million, including short-term deposits).