HHLA share

Indices start 2023 surprisingly well

China’s unexpected abandonment of its zero-Covid policy and the sharp decline in energy prices helped Germany’s stock markets get off to a positive start in the new year. Expectations of a favourable economic development in the eurozone and the recovery of the Chinese economy after the easing of coronavirus restrictions delivered further price gains in February. This upbeat market sentiment came to an abrupt end with the closure of three regional US banks in early March. The resulting insolvency of the major Swiss bank Credit Suisse increased uncertainty and led to greater volatility on the capital markets. Heavy losses in some cases during the first half of March were partially offset by a recovery in the second half. By contrast, April was a quiet month with many market participants remaining cautious while waiting for the interest rate decisions of the central banks in early May. Increased base rates and discussions about the suspension of the US debt ceiling dampened market sentiment in May. At the same time, sentiment in the German economy dampened and Chinese industrial production figures fell short of expectations. In view of sinking inflation rates, hopes were raised that the cycle of interest rate hikes in the eurozone and the USA would soon be coming to an end. As a result, the DAX reached a new record high of 16,358 points on 16 June and closed the first half of the year at 16,148 points (a rise of 16.0 %).

HHLA share under pressure on several fronts

Share price development, January to June 2023

Closing prices indexed in %

At the beginning of the year, the HHLA share benefited from the positive market environment, reaching its half-year high of € 13.26 in mid-January. After some profit-taking, the share price moved mainly sideways and stabilised at around € 12.90. With the publication of the preliminary, unaudited annual results for 2022 on 21 February, the company reported a subdued outlook for the first quarter of 2023 in the light of ongoing geopolitical tensions, sanctions by the European Union and slowing economic momentum. As a result, the share price dropped noticeably. After a cautiously optimistic forecast for business development in 2023 was communicated in late March as part of 2022 reporting, the share recovered. This positive trend was supported in early May by the German government’s decision to approve the non-controlling interest of the Chinese company COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited (CSPL) in Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT) of 24.9 %. The Annual General Meeting was held in mid-June and the dividend was paid on the following day, after which the share traded at a corresponding discount. The share price was also adversely impacted by the news that Executive Board member Tanja Dreilich was stepping down prematurely from her position on 30 June. As a result, the HHLA share had declined by 4.5 % as of 30 June 2023, closing at € 11.96. For more information on the share price performance and the HHLA share, please visit www.hhla.de/investors.

Annual General Meeting approves with large majority

The Annual General Meeting was held exclusively as a virtual event on 15 June 2023. Shareholders were able to follow a live stream of the event on the shareholder portal and exercise their right to speak and ask questions via video communication.

The Annual General Meeting approved the proposal of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board to pay a dividend per listed class A share of € 0.75 (previous year: € 0.75). A total of € 54.4 million was thus paid out to shareholders of the Port Logistics subgroup. This corresponds to a payout ratio of around 66 %, putting it at the upper end of the target range of 50 to 70 % of the annual net profit after tax and non-controlling interests.

The Annual General Meeting also approved all other proposed resolutions with large majorities, including amendments to the Articles of Association, which allow the company to hold virtual Annual General Meetings in principle limited to a period of two years. For more information on the Annual General Meeting, please visit www.hhla.de/agm.

Dialogue with capital market actively continued

The Investor Relations team attended various conferences and used digital formats such as video calls and virtual meetings in the first half of 2023. This allowed the company to hold numerous discussions with analysts and investors and to remain in close communication with the capital market. Besides the effects of the war in Ukraine, discussions centred on the progress of the efficiency programme in the Container segment, automation at Container Terminal Burchardkai (CTB), the impact of inflation, the potential collaboration of container terminals in the German Bight and the minority stake of COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited (CSPL) in Container Terminal Tollerort (CTT).