The start of the year was turbulent for the Hamburg-based shipping company Hapag-Lloyd: low freight rates and operating difficulties caused by storms and the Hormuz blockade depressed earnings.
Hapag-Lloyd ended the first quarter of 2026 with Group EBITDA of USD 494 million. Group EBIT fell significantly in the same period, dropping to USD -157 million, while the Group result fell to USD -219 million. In the first quarter of 2025, the shipping company had posted a significant jump in profits: EBITDA was $1.1 billion, EBIT was $487 million and net income was $469 million – an increase of 45% at the time. “Compared to the prior-year quarter, the results were impacted by lower freight rates and operational impairments due to severe weather conditions and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz,” Hapag-Lloyd announced.
In the liner shipping segment, turnover fell to $4.8 billion. The main factor here was the low average freight rate of 1,330 $/TEU, compared with 1,471 $/TEU in the previous year. However, at 3.2 million TEU, the transport volume was almost on a par with the same quarter of the previous year. Poor weather conditions in Europe and North America, which led to ongoing disruptions in terminal operations – also noticeable in Hamburg – and in the supply chains, did not detract from this. In addition, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz led to disruptions in cargo flows, according to the shipping company. EBITDA fell to USD 447 million, while EBIT decreased to USD -174 million.
In the Terminal and Infrastructure segment, revenue rose to USD 168 million in the first quarter of 2026 due to the first-time full consolidation of J M Baxi’s container business and strong volume growth in Latin America and India. EBITDA rose to USD 47 million and EBIT to USD 15 million
Reliability thanks to Gemini network
“We cannot be satisfied with the course of the first quarter, as weather-related supply chain disruptions and pressure on freight rates led to a significant decline in earnings,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd. However, there were also rays of hope. “At the same time, our Gemini network has proven its resilience under difficult conditions and helped us to provide reliable services to our customers,” he said. “We will consistently focus on our Strategy 2030 and the next milestones for the successful completion of our merger agreement with Zim, while maintaining strict cost management in a volatile market environment.”
Hapag-Lloyd plans to acquire the Israeli shipping company Zim for a price of $35 per share. The total value of the transaction amounts to USD 4.2 billion – despite a surprising offer from Israel, it is currently assumed that both parties will complete the merger.
For 2026, the Executive Board continues to expect Group EBITDA in the range of USD 1.1 billion to USD 3.1 billion and Group EBIT in the range of USD -1.5 billion to USD 0.5 billion. “This forecast remains subject to considerable uncertainty due to the highly volatile development of freight rates and the conflict in the Middle East,” the shipping company concluded.
