The Israeli shipping company Zim has started 2025 with strong growth.
The company’s total revenue amounted to USD 2.01 billion, compared to USD 1.56 billion in the same period last year. The increase is mainly due to higher freight rates and increased transportation volumes.
The shipping company, which ranks 9th in the global container shipping industry, transported 944,000 TEU in the first quarter, compared to 846,000 TEU in 2024. Average freight rates per container increased from USD 1,452 to USD 1,776.
“Zim started the year with positive momentum, delivering 12% growth in volume shipped and strong earnings in the first quarter,” said Eli Glickman, President and CEO of the company. “Building on our proven track record of returning capital to shareholders, we paid a dividend of USD 0.74 per share, or USD 89 million, representing approximately 30% of our quarterly net income.”
Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to USD 464 million in the first quarter of 2025, compared to USD 167 million in the first quarter of 2024. The increase is mainly due to the increase in revenue mentioned above. The shipping company’s net profit tripled, rising from USD 92 million to USD 296 million. This was also due to the aforementioned increase in revenue, Zim announced.
Adjusted EBITDA amounted to USD 779 million in the first quarter of 2025, compared to USD 427 million in the first quarter of 2024. Adjusted EBIT amounted to USD 463 million in the first quarter of 2025, compared to USD 167 million in 2024. The adjusted EBITDA and EBIT margins in the first quarter of 2025 were 39% and 23% respectively. In comparison, the margins in the first quarter of 2024 were 27% and 11% respectively. Net cash flow from operating activities amounted to USD 855 million in the first quarter of 2025 – a significant increase compared to USD 326 million in the previous year.
Zim pursues an agile business strategy
“For the remainder of the year, the operating environment is highly uncertain due to various factors affecting global trade and economic expectations,” said Glickman. “For Zim, our focus is on controlling what we can and responding quickly and decisively to market changes. We are continually evaluating how to optimize our capacity and have taken steps to adapt our network to the changing freight flows from China and other Southeast Asian markets to the U.S., including last week. This underlines the agility of our business strategy.”
Despite the high level of uncertainty, not least due to the Houthi activities, the company is targeting an adjusted EBITDA result of between USD 1.6 and USD 2.2 billion for the full year, with EBIT of between USD 350 and USD 950 million. “We are confident we have built a resilient business and will continue to benefit from strategic investments in our fleet with larger, more modern and lower cost capacity, approximately 40% of which is fueled by liquefied natural gas,” Glickman concluded. “Thanks to our lower cost base, we are confident that Zim is well positioned to achieve profitable growth in the long term.”
The Haifa-based shipping company announced a massive expansion of its fleet last year. According to information from the industry service Alphaliner, Zim is currently well ahead of Yang Ming (711,393 TEU, 10th place) with a total capacity of 773,149 TEU. The majority of the fleet (approx. 95%) is acquired by Zim via charter agreements.
