Earnings Position

Key Figures

Against the background of the economic environment described above, HHLA recorded a strong decline in throughput volumes in the reporting period compared to the previous year. Container throughput decreased by 11.8 % to 5,027 thousand TEU (previous year: 5,701 thousand TEU). This was due to lower feeder volumes, and in particular a substantial decline in traffic to and from Russia, as well as the crisis in Ukraine and increasing competition due to new capacity at rival ports.

Transport volumes outperformed the general market trend, rising by 2.4 % to 996 thousand TEU (previous year: 973 thousand TEU).

Revenue for the HHLA Group amounted to € 868.9 million in the reporting period, down 4.2 % on the prior-year figure (previous year: € 906.7 million). Although the decrease in revenue in the Container segment was smaller than the decrease in volumes, only about half of this amount could be offset by higher revenue in the other segments. Compared to very high storage fees at times in the previous year, the current year has seen a return to more normal levels.

In its Container, Intermodal and Logistics segments, the listed Port Logistics subgroup generated revenue of € 845.6 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 885.4 million). This decrease in the Port Logistics subgroup almost matched the trend for the Group as a whole. The non-listed Real Estate subgroup increased revenue by 9.0 % to € 27.5 million (previous year: € 25.2 million) and accounted for 2.7 % of Group revenue.

As in the previous year, changes in inventories of € 0.4 million did not have any noticeable influence on consolidated profit (previous year: € 0.5 million). Own work capitalised rose to € 7.5 million (previous year: € 6.0 million).

The rise in other operating income to € 27.5 million (previous year: € 22.4 million) is mainly due to the disposal of a property, as well as a provision for legal risks formed in the previous year, part of which could be reversed through profit and loss.

Operating expenses decreased by 3.0 % in total to € 780.4 million.

The cost of materials declined by 8.6 % in the reporting period to € 274.5 million (previous year: € 300.3 million). The cost of materials ratio decreased to 31.6 % (previous year: 33.1 %) due to cost structure deviations from the expansion of the company’s own traction in intermodal traffic since the beginning of the year.

Personnel expenses increased slightly year-on-year by 0.6 % to € 307.3 million (previous year: € 305.3 million). In addition to higher union wage rates, this rise was due to growth in the Intermodal segment’s workforce following the expansion of its own traction. The personnel expenses ratio rose to 35.4 % (previous year: 33.7 %). The increase is largely due to the fact that personnel expenses declined only slightly despite significantly lower revenue in the Container segment.

Other operating expenses decreased by 2.0 % in the reporting period to € 108.1 million (previous year: € 110.4 million). The decline is mainly attributable to one-off expenses in the previous year resulting from a balance sheet provision for legal risks. At 12.4 %, their share of revenue was up on the previous year (12.2 %).

As a result of these developments, the operating result before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell slightly by 2.3 % to € 214.4 million (previous year: € 219.6 million). The EBITDA margin rose to 24.7 % in the reporting period (previous year: 24.2 %).

Depreciation and amortisation rose by 2.6 % to € 90.5 million (previous year: € 88.3 million). The increase was mainly due to ramped-up investments in rolling stock in the Intermodal segment.

At Group level, the operating result (EBIT) was down 5.6 % to € 123.9 million (previous year: € 131.3 million). The EBIT margin decreased slightly to 14.3 % (previous year: 14.5 %). The Port Logistics and Real Estate subgroups contributed 89.6 % and 10.4 % to EBIT, respectively.

Net expenses from the financial result fell by € 4.1 million to € 21.9 million (previous year: € 26.0), mainly due to an improved interest result. The financial result includes negative exchange rate effects in the amount of € 5.8 million (previous year: € 7.0 million) arising from the devaluation of the Ukrainian currency.

At 24.1 %, the Group’s effective tax rate was down on the previous year (30.1 %). This was caused by the absence of a one-off gain that drove up the previous year’s tax rate and the fact that a higher proportion of profits was generated by foreign subsidiaries.

Profit after tax increased by 5.1 %, from € 73.7 million to € 77.4 million. There was a disproportionately strong year-on-year increase in profit after tax and minority interests of 19.1 % to € 55.9 million (previous year: € 46.9 million) due to the positive development of HHLA’s majority-owned companies. At € 0.77, earnings per share were also up 19.1 % on the prior-year figure of € 0.64. The listed Port Logistics subgroup achieved a 20.2 % increase in earnings per share to € 0.70 (previous year: € 0.59). Earnings per share of the non-listed Real Estate subgroup also improved, with an 11.8 % rise taking them to € 2.43 (previous year: € 2.17). The return on capital employed (ROCE) was down 0.7 percentage points at 12.7 % (previous year: 13.4 %).