Intermodal segment

In the highly competitive market for container traffic in the hinterland of major seaports, HHLA’s transport companies recorded a significant increase in volumes during the first three months of 2021. Container transport increased by 10.7 % to 418 thousand TEU (previous year: 378 thousand TEU). Rail continued to benefit more than road from the recovery in freight volumes that began in the second half of 2020. Rail transport increased by 12.1 % year-on-year to 336 thousand TEU (previous year: 300 thousand TEU). There was a significant increase in traffic from both the North German and Adriatic seaports. However, the strong year-on-year growth was mainly attributable to the rise in continental traffic. The upward trend of the previous quarters continued for road transport. In a persistently challenging market environment, transport volumes increased year-on-year by 5.4 % to 82 thousand TEU (previous year: 78 thousand TEU).

At € 124.7 million, revenue was significantly up by 6.8 % on the prior-year figure (previous year: € 116.8 million). However, this increase failed to match the strong rise in transport volumes. This was due to the fact that, despite a slight increase in the rail share of HHLA’s total intermodal transportation from 79.4 % to 80.4 %, average revenue per TEU decreased as a result of changes to the structure of freight flows.

The operating result (EBIT) rose by 25.4 % to € 21.6 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 17.2 million). This strong increase was primarily due to the positive trend in volume and revenue.