Earnings Position
in € million |
1–9 | 2017 |
1–9 | 2016 |
Change |
|||
Revenue |
942.8 |
871.0 |
8.3 % |
|||
EBITDA |
245.3 |
218.4 |
12.3 % |
|||
EBITDA margin in % |
26.0 |
25.1 |
0.9 pp |
|||
EBIT |
155.2 |
126.9 |
22.3 % |
|||
EBIT margin in % |
16.5 |
14.6 |
1.9 pp |
|||
Profit after tax and minority interests |
79.3 |
60.9 |
30.2 % |
|||
ROCE in % |
15.7 |
12.8 |
2.9 pp |
HHLA posted very encouraging performance data in the first three quarters of 2017. At 5,453 thousand TEU, there was strong year-on-year growth in container throughput (previous year: 4,924 thousand TEU). This was mainly attributable to an increase in feeder traffic with the Baltic Sea ports, a recovery in Asian routes and market share gains resulting from the reorganisation of shipping alliances. Transport volumes again increased significantly by 6.8 % to 1,126 thousand TEU (previous year: 1,055 thousand TEU). Both rail and road transport contributed to this growth.
Revenue for the HHLA Group rose strongly by 8.3 % to € 942.8 million during the reporting period (previous year: € 871.0 million). This was primarily due to the volume trend in container throughput and transport.
The significant 35.3 % decline in other operating income to € 28.7 million (previous year: € 44.3 million) is mainly attributable to the one-off effect of terminating the lease for the Übersee-Zentrum last year.
The 3.3 % increase in operating expenses to € 820.7 million (previous year: € 794.8 million) was well below the increase in revenue. One-off effects in the previous year included a one-off restructuring expense in connection with the discontinuation of project and contract logistics and the insolvency of the shipping company Hanjin.
The operating result (EBIT) rose by 22.3 % to € 155.2 million in the reporting period (previous year: € 126.9 million). The EBIT margin amounted to 16.5 % (previous year: 14.6 %). In the Port Logistics subgroup, EBIT rose by 23.8 % to € 142.5 million (previous year: € 115.1 million), while EBIT in the Real Estate subgroup was up 7.3 % to € 12.4 million (previous year: € 11.5 million).
Net expenses from the financial result fell by € 6.6 million or 42.3 % to € 9.0 million (previous year: € 15.6 million). This was partly due to a positive change in exchange rate effects of € 3.2 million. Interest paid on pension provisions and to banks and other lenders also decreased.
Profit after tax and minority interests increased by 30.2 % year-on-year to € 79.3 million (previous year: € 60.9 million). Earnings per share rose accordingly to € 1.09 (previous year: € 0.84). The listed Port Logistics subgroup achieved a 34.0 % increase in earnings per share to € 1.03 (previous year: € 0.77). Earnings per share of the non-listed Real Estate subgroup were slightly up on the prior-year figure at € 2.64 (previous year: € 2.61). Return on capital employed (ROCE) reached 15.7 % and was therefore significantly above the prior-year figure.