Following a weak first quarter, things appear to be looking up again for the Hamburg-based container shipping line Hapag-Lloyd: the forecast for the full year has been raised significantly.
“Due to the recent strong market demand and the positive trend in spot freight rates,” according to an ad hoc announcement by the listed shipping company, the forecast for the full year 2026 has been revised.
Accordingly, the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG is raising its earnings forecast quite significantly. Group EBITDA is now expected to be in the range of $2.7 to $3.7 billion. By way of comparison: previously, the company had anticipated a range of $1.1 to $3.1 billion. Group EBIT is now expected to be positive after all, at between $0.1 and $1.1 billion. Previously, the world’s fifth-largest container shipping line had anticipated a range from a loss of $1.5 billion to a profit of $0.5 billion.
However, the announcement also includes a somewhat unsurprising caveat: against a backdrop of volatile freight rates and major geopolitical challenges, the forecast is subject to a high degree of uncertainty.
Things are therefore apparently looking up again for the shipping company, which is considering a stake in a Eurogate terminal in Hamburg and which has recently been the subject of – denied – speculation regarding a takeover by industry leader MSC. At the start of the year, the situation was somewhat different: the company had posted a loss in the first quarter.
