As expected, Hapag-Lloyd had to accept significant losses for 2023 compared to the previous year. The Group result fell by around three quarters.
Based on preliminary figures, Group EBITDA amounted to USD 4.8 billion (EUR 4.5 billion). In the previous year, this figure was $20.5 billion. Profit (EBIT) decreased to USD 2.7 billion (2022: USD 18.5 billion).
The main reason for this was the significant drop in freight rates, Hapag-Lloyd has now announced. Instead of USD 2,862/TEU, the Hamburg-based liner shipping company only earned an annual average of around USD 1,500 per container transported. As a result, turnover also fell by almost half – from $36.4 billion to $19.4 billion. By contrast, the transport volume actually increased slightly by 100,000 TEU to 11.9 million TEU (+0.5%).
Crisis in the Red Sea weighs on Hapag-Lloyd’s result
In addition to the normalization of global supply chains, the conflict in the Red Sea had an increasingly negative impact on the business figures at the end of the year. Like all other major shipping companies, Hapag-Lloyd avoids the route along the Yemeni coast and through the Suez Canal and routes its ships around the Cape of Good Hope. This extends the transit time and increases costs. Alternatively, the Hamburg-based shipping company also offers overland transportation.
The annual report and the audited figures for the 2023 financial year as well as the outlook for the current year will be published on March 14.
