Hapag-Lloyd has achieved a turnaround in the second quarter of 2012[ds_preview], improving its result by more than 125 mill. € compared to Q1. This was primarily due to the rate increases which became effective in the second quarter. The weighted average freight rate rose by 7.4 % in Q2 of 2012, taking it to 1,594 $/TEU. This was 110 $/TEU higher than in the first quarter. The transport volume totalled 1.36 mill. TEU in the three months to June – approximately 2 % higher than in the same period of last year. Revenue increased to around 1.8 bill. € in the second quarter, a growth of some 21 % on Q2 2011.
In the second quarter, Hapag-Lloyd had to cope with a massive rise of 330 mill. € in transport expenses (+26 %) as against the same period of last year. This stemmed particularly from soaring energy prices. Despite the extreme pressure on costs, Hapag-Lloyd generated an operating profit of 30.8 mill. € (adjusted EBIT) in the second quarter of 2012. After deducting interest and taxes, the company almost broke even in Q2 2012, posting a group net result of -7.3 mill. €.
In the first six months of 2012, revenue increased by more than 14 % compared to the first half of 2011, coming in at 3.4 bill. €. 2.68 mill. TEU were transported – an increase of 5.8 %. Investments of 494.6 mill. € were made in the first half. Following a slight easing in bunker prices, the current trend is pointing upwards again. For this reason, rate increases were recently announced for a number of trades, and further price hikes will be unavoidable.
