Earnings Position

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Key Figures

in € million

  

1–3 | 2017

  

1–3 | 2016

  

Change

Revenue

  

305.1

  

284.8

  

7.1 %

EBITDA

  

75.1

  

70.4

  

6.6 %

EBITDA margin in %

  

24.6

  

24.7

  

- 0.1 pp

EBIT

  

45.2

  

41.0

  

10.4 %

EBIT margin in %

  

14.8

  

14.4

  

0.4 pp

Profit after tax and minority interest

  

24.4

  

18.1

  

34.4 %

ROCE in %

  

13.6

  

12.5

  

1.1 pp

HHLA achieved very encouraging performance data in the first quarter of 2017. At 1,778 thousand TEU, container throughput rose strongly by 10.3 % year-on-year (previous year: 1,612 thousand TEU). This was mainly attributable to an increase in feeder traffic with the Baltic Sea ports and a recovery in Asian routes. Transport volumes also increased significantly by 8.4 % to 370 thousand TEU (previous year: 341 thousand TEU). Both rail- and road-bound transport contributed to this growth.

The HHLA Group’s revenue increased significantly by 7.1 % in the period under review to € 305.1 million (previous year: € 284.8 million). This was primarily due to the volume growth in container throughput and transport described above. The performance of the listed Port Logistics subgroup largely outlined that of the HHLA Group. Revenue rose by 7.3 % to € 297.4 million (previous year: € 277.1 million). The non-listed Real Estate subgroup increased its revenue by 0.8 % to € 9.3 million (previous year: € 9.2 million).

Operating expenses rose by 7.4 %, nearly in line with revenue, to € 273.1 million (previous year: € 254.2 million). The only increase was in the cost of materials ratio, which was partly due to maintenance for container gantry cranes at the Hamburg terminals and increased material costs for maintenance work in the Intermodal segment.

The operating result (EBIT) rose by 10.4 % to € 45.2 million in the period under review (previous year: € 41.0 million). The EBIT margin came in at 14.8 % (previous year: 14.4 %). In the Port Logistics subgroup, EBIT rose by 12.4 % to € 41.7 million (previous year: € 37.1 million) while in the Real Estate subgroup, EBIT declined by 8.8 % to 3.4 million (previous year: € 3.8 million) inter alia as a result of maintenance work.

Net expenses from the financial result fell by € 3.4 million or 53.0 % to € 3.1 million (previous year: € 6.5 million). This was mainly due to a reduction of € 1.9 million in negative exchange rate effects, which resulted almost exclusively from the devaluation of the Ukrainian currency. Interest paid to banks and other lenders also decreased.

The profit after tax and minority interests increased by 34.4 % year-on-year to € 24.4 million (previous year: € 18.1 million). Earnings per share rose accordingly to € 0.34 (previous year: € 0.25). The listed Port Logistics subgroup achieved a 40.1 % increase in earnings per share to € 0.32 (previous year: € 0.23). Earnings per share of the non-listed Real Estate subgroup were down on the prior-year figure at € 0.72 (previous year: € 0.79). Return on capital employed (ROCE) reached 13.6 % and was therefore significantly above the prior-year figure.