The HHLA Share

Stock Market Data

Negative Stock Market Trend

Global economic fears meant that stock markets around the world suffered losses in the third quarter. Although the benchmark indices recovered from the effects of the Greek debt crisis in July and started the second half of the year on an upward trajectory, this was tempered by weak economic data from China in late July. In mid-August, the Chinese central bank responded to weak export data by unexpectedly devaluing the yuan. This triggered strong losses at stock markets around the world. Germany’s benchmark index, the DAX, also suffered: it closed well below the 10,000 mark at 9,648 points on 24 August after having established itself above the 11,500 point mark at the beginning of the quarter. Market sentiment was also dragged down by fears of weaker growth in the emerging markets and uncertainty about an impending interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve. The DAX temporarily recovered from this low in September. However, the lack of positive factors meant that the DAX and SDAX trended sideways at best until halfway through the month. The announcement by the US Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low for the time being led to further markdowns on the German stock market. The German benchmark index was also hit by the scandal surrounding Volkswagen’s manipulated emissions data and reached a quarter-low of 9,428 points on 24 September. The DAX closed the quarter at 9,660 points, down 11.7 % on the beginning of the quarter. The SDAX was not hit quite so hard and closed at 8,310 points on 30 September, a decrease of just 3.1 % from July to September.

Share Price Development July to September 2015

Closings in %, index = 100

Source: Datastream
The latest prices and additional information on the HHLA share can be found online at HHLA’s IR website.

HHLA Share Remains under Pressure

At the beginning of the third quarter, the European Court of Justice ruling on the interpretation of the Water Framework Directive in connection with the dredging of the river Elbe once again attracted investor interest, leading to higher trading volumes. In a generally declining market environment, however, the news did little to boost the share’s performance. HHLA revised its segment forecast for the 2015 financial year in an ad hoc disclosure on 6 July. As the adjustment did not affect guidance at Group level, it had no noticeable impact on the share price which trended sideways between € 17 and € 18 until the publication of the half-year figures on 14 August. The interim results were met with a cautious response on the capital markets: although consolidated earnings for the first half-year were encouraging, volumes, revenue and EBIT were below expectations in some cases. The HHLA share also came under pressure in the second half of August following the devaluation of the Chinese currency and fell below € 16. In a depressed market, the share suffered further losses over the course of September and reached a new all-time low of € 13.84 on 23 September. The share recovered slightly at the end of the quarter to close at € 14.57. Overall, however, the share price fell by 19.7 % over the course of the quarter.

Proactive Dialogue with Capital Market Maintained

Despite the adverse market environment, HHLA continued its proactive IR activities in the third quarter and was represented on the capital markets at a number of roadshows and investor conferences. Discussions focused on how the declining and slowing economies of Russia and China are expected to affect business developments at HHLA, as well as the current status of the dredging of the river Elbe. A total of 21 financial analysts covered HHLA’s business development in the third quarter, the majority of whom issued a “buy” or “hold” recommendation for the share.

HHLA’s communications activities were once again commended by the capital market. HHLA’s annual report took first place in this year’s “Best Annual Report” competition in the category for SDAX companies. The prestigious award was presented by business journal “Bilanz”.