Merger with CSAV Keeps Hapag-Lloyd in the Black
German container line Hapag-Lloyd reported EUR 160.4 million (USD 172.4 million) net profit for the first nine months of 2015, compared to EUR 224 million net loss recorded in the first three quarters of 2014, mainly due to the merger with the Chilean Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) in December 2014 and additional cost savings from the company’s OCTAVE program.
In the first nine months of 2015, Hapag-Lloyd’s revenue increased by EUR 1.9 billion to EUR 6.8 billion compared to the same period in 2014, highly impacted by the addition of CSAV’s container shipping activities.
Transport volume rose 28.3% to around 5.6 million TEUs in the first nine months of 2015. The average freight rate in the first nine months of 2015 came in at 1,260 USD/TEU, 12% below the same period of 2014.
Transport expenses per TEU decreased by USD 240/TEU to USD 1,111/TEU in the first nine months of 2015. The company attributes the decline mainly to reduced bunker prices and a decline in bunker consumption, as well as synergies related to the integration of the container shipping activities with CSAV. Costs of purchased services also declined by USD 92/TEU on the basis of lower container transport costs as well as port, canal and terminal costs as a consequence of the realised synergies and cost savings.
On November 6, Hapag-Lloyd completed its initial public offering, generating gross proceeds of approximately USD 300 million that will be invested in new vessels and containers.
“We are satisfied with our results for the first nine months of 2015, given the very challenging market environment,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.
“The third quarter proved once more that the merger with CSAV was the right step and that our cost reduction measures are making us competitive. With the proceeds from the IPO, we will be able to invest in the future to further improve efficiency and profitability.”
