In the first nine months of the year, Ernst Russ AG was once again able to increase its turnover despite tight markets. The bottom line is a higher profit.
Revenue increased by € 11.3 million year-on-year to € 149.3 million in the first nine months of 2023. The increase resulted in particular from the expansion of the fleet over the course of the financial year, the Hamburg-based investment manager announced. At € 36.3 million, the consolidated result was € 2.4 million higher than a year ago. [ds_preview]
Ship assets even increased significantly by around a quarter to €265.3 million. At the end of the third quarter of 2023, 31 ships were majority-owned by the shipping group. The portfolio mainly consisted of 29 container ships in the 700 TEU to 13,400 TEU size classes, plus a 38,000 tdw handysize bulker and a multipurpose ship.
Ernst Russ rejuvenates the fleet
So far this year, the 13,371 TEU container ship “Rome Express”, which was built in Korea in 2010, has been added to the fleet and the 20-year-old “Ella” with 2,516 TEU has been sold in return. At the beginning of the year, the container ship “Bakkafoss” with a capacity of 1,025 TEU was acquired in a joint venture with the Icelandic shipping company Eimskip. This was followed in May by the purchase of a container ship with a capacity of 2,194 TEU, which will operate under the name “Frida Russ” in future. Together with the handover of a 3,091 TEU container ship in November, these transactions will rejuvenate the Group’s own fleet, according to the statement.
For the 2023 financial year, the Ernst Russ Group expects revenue in the range of € 190-210 million and an operating result (EBIT) of € 70 to 90 million in view of the largely secured employment of the ships.
