Earnings position
Container throughput at the HHLA container terminals decreased year-on-year by 6.7 % to 2,959 thousand TEU (previous year: 3,172 thousand TEU). This was mainly attributable to ongoing modernisation measures at the Hamburg container terminals, the weather-related poor start to the year and volume declines in the China and North America shipping regions, as well as in feeder traffic.
Container transport declined by 1.2 % to 985 thousand TEU (previous year: 997 thousand TEU). The main causes were lower traffic with the Adriatic seaports and in the German-speaking region, as well as the adverse weather conditions at the beginning of the year.
The HHLA Group’s revenue rose by 3.0 % to € 910.9 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 884.5 million). This trend, which ran counter to the performance figures, resulted primarily from additional storage fees in the Container segment, as well as from necessary price adjustments and changes in the revenue mix in the Intermodal segment.
The listed Port Logistics subgroup generated revenue of € 891.6 million (previous year: € 865.7 million) in the reporting period. This revenue growth virtually mirrored the trend at Group level. In the non-listed Real Estate subgroup, revenue amounted to € 24.2 million (previous year: € 23.4 million).
In the reporting period, changes in inventories totalled € 0.6 million (previous year: € - 2.7 million) and own work capitalised amounted to € 5.9 million (previous year: € 4.2 million).
Other operating income decreased by 8.8 % to € 27.6 million (previous year: € 30.3 million). The prior-year figure includes income from the restructuring of O’Swaldkai, which arose in particular from lease extensions and real estate transfers.
Operating expenses increased by 6.8 % to € 893.6 million (previous year: € 836.9 million). In addition to a slight rise in the cost of materials and a moderate increase in other operating expenses, the main drivers were the significant rise in personnel expenses and much higher depreciation and amortisation.
In the reporting period, the cost of materials rose by 1.9 % to € 308.7 million (previous year: € 302.9 million). Besides higher fuel costs, this was due in particular to operational costs relating to rail traffic. The cost-of-materials ratio fell to 33.9% (previous year: 34.2%).
There was a significant year-on-year increase of 8.3 % in personnel expenses to € 368.0 million (previous year: € 339.9 million). In addition to union wage rate rises, this increase was mainly attributable to operational expenses in connection with modernisation measures at the Hamburg container terminals and the expansion of intermodal business. The personnel expenses ratio increased to 40.4 % (previous year: 38.4 %).
Other operating expenses rose moderately by 3.3 % to € 111.9 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 108.3 million). This was mainly due to higher short-term leasing costs at the rail companies. The ratio of expenses to generated revenue rose to 12.3 % (previous year: 12.2 %).
The operating result before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 5.4 % to € 156.3 million (previous year: € 165.2 million). Besides the decline in performance data, the main cause was the rise in personnel expenses. The EBITDA margin decreased to 17.2 % (previous year: 18.7 %).
Within depreciation and amortisation, there was a strong increase of 22.3 % to € 105.0 million (previous year: € 85.9 million). This was mainly due to the impairment loss of € 9.4 million recognised on intangible assets at omoqo GmbH, as well as the acceptance of new container gantry cranes and the capitalisation of the workshop at Container Terminal Burchardkai. The ratio to revenue rose to 11.5 % (previous year: 9.7 %).
The operating result (EBIT) decreased by € 28.0 million or 35.3 % to € 51.3 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 79.4 million). The EBIT margin was 5.6 % (previous year: 9.0 %). In the Port Logistics subgroup, EBIT fell by 39.7 % to € 43.7 million (previous year: € 72.4 million). In the Real Estate subgroup, EBIT increased by 11.0 % to € 7.5 million (previous year: € 6.7 million).
Net expenses from financial income rose by € 2.6 million, or 9.2 %, to € 31.1 million (previous year: € 28.5 million).
At 83.0 %, the Group’s effective tax rate was well above the prior-year figure of 36.8 %. This was due to losses incurred by individual domestic companies during the year, for which no deferred tax assets had been recognised as of the reporting date. As a result, the reported tax expense increased considerably in relation to profit.
Profit after tax fell strongly by 89.3 %, from € 32.1 million to € 3.4 million. Profit after tax and non-controlling interests was down on the previous year at € - 4.2 million (previous year: € 19.1 million). Earnings per share amounted to € - 0.06 (previous year: € 0.25). Earnings per share for the listed Port Logistics subgroup were € - 0.11 (previous year: € 0.21). Earnings per share of the non-listed Real Estate subgroup were up year-on-year at € 1.51 (previous year: € 1.40). The return on capital employed (ROCE) amounted to 3.5 % (previous year: 6.0 %).