Intermodal Segment

In the first half of 2018, HHLA’s transport companies posted a moderate decline of 4.2 % in the highly competitive market for container traffic in the hinterland of major seaports. Transport volumes declined from 744 thousand standard containers (TEU) in the same period last year to 713 thousand TEU. In addition to rail transport, there was also a marked decline in road transport. Rail transport was adversely affected by multiple factors, including the scheduled realignment of POLZUG activities as part of its integration into the METRANS organisation. Compared with the second quarter of 2017, rail transport was down slightly by 1.7 % to 558 thousand TEU (previous year: 568 thousand TEU). Due to a significant decrease in freight volume in the greater Hamburg area, road transport fell by 12.0 % year-on-year to 155 thousand TEU (previous year: 176 thousand TEU).

At € 208.0 million, revenue was up 0.9 % against the prior-year figure (previous year: € 206.2 million) and thus performed much better than transport volume. This stable revenue trend resulted from a slight increase in rail’s share of HHLA’s total intermodal transportation from 76.3 % to 78.3 %, in combination with longer transport distances.

The operating result (EBIT) increased year-on-year to € 38.6 million (previous year: € 34.9 million). In addition to a decrease in the cost of materials, this trend was due in particular to changes in the route mix. The terminal in Budapest, which started operations in mid-2017, also had a positive impact on the efficiency of HHLA’s intermodal network.