Earnings position

Container throughput at HHLA’s container terminals declined year-on-year by 14.6 % to 2,876 thousand TEU (previous year: 3,368 thousand TEU). The main reason for this was the sharp volume declines in the Far East shipping region, and in particular China, as well as the loss of feeder traffic with Russia as a result of EU sanctions. In addition, seaborne handling at the terminal in Odessa was largely discontinued after 24 February 2022 due to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

Container transport decreased by a moderate 3.7 % to 819 thousand TEU (previous year: 851 thousand TEU). The dominant transport by rail fell slightly in a persistently challenging market environment – in particular Polish traffic and traffic with the North German seaports – while road transport decreased significantly.

Revenue of the HHLA Group fell by 6.7 % to € 727.1 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 779.5 million). This was primarily due to the volume decline and falling storage fees in the Container segment. There was an opposing effect from the level of rail transport revenue, which was adjusted to the rising costs of purchased services.

The listed Port Logistics subgroup generated revenue of € 707.7 million (previous year: € 761.9 million) in the reporting period. This decrease almost matched the trend for the Group as a whole. The non-listed Real Estate subgroup posted revenue of € 23.4 million (previous year: € 21.5 million).

In the reporting period, changes in inventories totalled € 2.6 million (previous year: € 2.6 million) and own work capitalised amounted to € 3.1 million (previous year: € 2.2 million).

Other operating income increased by 39.4 % to € 32.9 million (previous year: € 23.6 million).

Operating expenses increased by 1.2 % to € 715.4 million (previous year: € 706.7 million). The development varied widely across the different expense types. Whereas other operating expenses and the cost of materials increased significantly – due in part to inflation – there was a slight decrease in depreciation and amortisation and a moderate decrease in personnel expenses.

In the reporting period, the cost of materials rose by 5.6 % to € 248.9 million (previous year: € 235.8 million). This was due to higher costs of purchasing services for rail traffic and the first-time consolidation of two companies in the Intermodal segment. A volume-related decrease in the Container segment had an opposing effect. The costs of materials ratio rose to 34.2 % (previous year: 30.2 %).

There was a moderate year-on-year decrease of 3.4 % in personnel expenses to € 279.7 million (previous year: € 289.5 million). An increase in headcount due to the expansion of rail transport business and the effects of union wage rate rises were more than offset by reduced personnel expenses in the Container segment, which was related lower container throughput and increased productivity at lower storage levels. Moreover, a partial reversal of the restructuring provision reduced the burden on personnel expenses. The personnel expenses ratio rose to 38.5 % (previous year: 37.1 %).

Other operating expenses rose significantly by 7.4 % to € 98.2 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 91.4 million). This was due to an increase in maintenance expenses, in particular at the Hamburg container terminals. The ratio of expenses to revenue rose to 13.5 % (previous year: 11.7 %).

The operating result before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) decreased by 27.3 % to € 139.0 million (previous year: € 191.3 million). The main causes were the decline in volumes and the strong decrease in storage fees at the container terminals. The EBITDA margin declined to 19.1 % (previous year: 24.5 %).

Within depreciation and amortisation, there was a slight decrease of 1.5 % to € 88.6 million (previous year: € 90.0 million) in connection with the valuation allowance required in the area of new business activities in the previous year. Its ratio to revenue rose to 12.2 % (previous year: 11.5 %).

The operating result (EBIT) decreased by € 50.9 million or 50.3 % to € 50.4 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 101.3 million). The EBIT margin amounted to 6.9 % (previous year: 13.0 %). In the Port Logistics subgroup, EBIT declined by 55.8 % to € 40.5 million (previous year: € 91.7 million). In the Real Estate subgroup, EBIT increased by 2.2 % to € 9.7 million (previous year: € 9.4 million).

Net expenses from the financial result rose by € 5.1 million or 33.2 % to € 20.5 million (previous year: € 15.4 million).

At 39.1 %, the Group’s effective tax rate was higher than in the previous year (previous year: 31.4 %). This increase in the tax rate is primarily due to the application of the effective tax rate based on previous results, which has a disproportionately strong impact on the current profit situation.

Profit after tax decreased by 69.1 %, from € 58.9 million to € 18.2 million. Profit after tax and non-controlling interests was significantly down on the previous year at € 8.2 million (previous year: € 43.9 million). Earnings per share amounted to € 0.11 (previous year: € 0.58). Earnings per share for the listed Port Logistics subgroup were € 0.04 (previous year: € 0.53). Earnings per share for the non-listed Real Estate subgroup were on a par with the previous year at € 2.03 (previous year: € 2.03). The return on capital employed (ROCE) amounted to 4.4 % (previous year: 8.9 %).