Earnings position
In the first three months of 2026, container throughput at the HHLA container terminals decreased year-on-year by 5.3 % to 1,462 thousand TEU (previous year: 1,544 thousand TEU). In addition to geopolitical tensions, the harsh winter conditions at the start of the year in particular affected processing and seaborne handling volumes. There was a decrease in overseas traffic with the North America and Far East shipping regions, especially China. By contrast, throughput volumes at the international container terminals rose strongly during the reporting period. In addition to the expected volume growth at HHLA PLT Italy, this was mainly driven by the increase in seaborne handling at Container Terminal Odessa (CTO).
Container transport declined by 1.5 % to 489 thousand TEU in the reporting period (previous year: 496 thousand TEU). Here, too, performance was affected by the adverse weather conditions at the beginning of the year.
The HHLA Group’s revenue rose by 3.5 % to € 450.9 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 435.6 million). This trend, which ran counter to the performance figures, resulted primarily from additional storage fees and a favourable modal split in the Container segment, as well as from necessary price adjustments and the increased rail share in the Intermodal segment.
The listed Port Logistics subgroup achieved a moderate increase in revenue to € 441.8 million (previous year: € 426.3 million) in the reporting period. In the non-listed Real Estate subgroup, revenue amounted to € 11.6 million (previous year: € 11.6 million).
Other operating income fell by 9.6 % to € 14.2 million (previous year: € 15.7 million). In the previous year, there was one-off income of around € 1.7 million in connection with the restructuring of O’Swaldkai and the transfer of real estate to the City of Hamburg.
Operating expenses increased by 4.8 % to € 437.6 million (previous year: € 417.4 million). This was largely due to the rise in personnel expenses and higher amortisation and depreciation. In addition to the development of union wage rates, the increase in personnel expenses resulted mainly from the weather-related decline in productivity in the Container segment and the expansion of business in rail transport. Depreciation and amortisation increased largely due to the acceptance of new container gantry cranes and the capitalisation of the workshop at CTB. Higher leasing costs in rail transport also led to a moderate rise in other operating expenses. By contrast, the cost of materials decreased slightly.
The operating result (EBIT) fell by 6.3 % to € 30.5 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 32.5 million). The EBIT margin amounted to 6.8 % (previous year: 7.5 %). In the Port Logistics subgroup, EBIT declined by 5.5 % to € 27.2 million (previous year: € 28.8 million), while in the Real Estate subgroup it decreased by 12.3 % to € 3.2 million (previous year: € 3.7 million).
Net expenses from financial result rose by € 3.1 million, or 25.0 %, to € 15.4 million (previous year: € 12.3 million).
At 61.7 %, the Group’s effective tax rate was well above the prior-year level (previous year: 34.7 %). This was due to the losses of individual domestic companies during the year for which no deferred tax assets were recognised. This resulted in significantly higher tax expenses in relation to earnings.
Profit after tax decreased by € 7.4 million to € 5.8 million (previous year: € 13.2 million). Profit after tax and non-controlling interests was down strongly on the previous year at € 0.9 million (previous year: € 7.9 million). Earnings per share amounted to € 0.01 (previous year: € 0.10). Earnings per share for the listed Port Logistics subgroup were € - 0.01 (previous year: € 0.08). For the non-listed Real Estate subgroup, earnings per share were down year-on-year at € 0.62 (previous year: € 0.77). The return on capital employed (ROCE) amounted to 4.2 % (previous year: 5.1 %).