Hapag-Lloyd, Germany's largest ocean container carrier, drastically reduced losses in the final three months of the year on substantial freight rate increases on some routes but is forecast to remain in the red through 2010.
Operating losses widened to $29 million in the three months to end-December from $11.4 million a year ago, but were almost $300 million less than in the previous quarter.
This took Hapag-Lloyd's loss for the whole of 2009 to just over $1 billion against a year-earlier profit of $285 million.
Revenue shrunk by around 28 percent to $1.56 billion in the final three months from $2.16 billion in the 2008 period, driven by a 13 percent drop in cargo volume and a 16 percent decline in average freight rates year-on-year, Hapag-Lloyd's biggest individual shareholder TUI AG said.
Hapag-Lloyd performed "considerably better than expected because in some instances substantial rate increases were achieved," TUI reported in its 2009/2010 first quarter results.
"Below the bottom line, however, the business of Hapag-Lloyd remained affected by the global economic crisis," according to Europe's biggest tourism company which owns 43.3 percent of the carrier.
Looking ahead to the current year, TUI said: "recovery tendencies [at Hapag-Lloyd] are expected to improve the result. However, the earnings situation is still negative."
The better-than-expected Hapag-Lloyd figures were mainly responsible for TUI's narrower-than-expected first quarter net loss of $139.8 million compared with $211 million a year ago.
TUI will ask shareholders at its annual general meeting on Wednesday Feb. 17 to defeat a demand by its biggest shareholder Norwegian shipping billionaire John Fredriksen for a special audit on the company's sale of a majority stake in Hapag-Lloyd.
Operating losses widened to $29 million in the three months to end-December from $11.4 million a year ago, but were almost $300 million less than in the previous quarter.
This took Hapag-Lloyd's loss for the whole of 2009 to just over $1 billion against a year-earlier profit of $285 million.
Revenue shrunk by around 28 percent to $1.56 billion in the final three months from $2.16 billion in the 2008 period, driven by a 13 percent drop in cargo volume and a 16 percent decline in average freight rates year-on-year, Hapag-Lloyd's biggest individual shareholder TUI AG said.
Hapag-Lloyd performed "considerably better than expected because in some instances substantial rate increases were achieved," TUI reported in its 2009/2010 first quarter results.
"Below the bottom line, however, the business of Hapag-Lloyd remained affected by the global economic crisis," according to Europe's biggest tourism company which owns 43.3 percent of the carrier.
Looking ahead to the current year, TUI said: "recovery tendencies [at Hapag-Lloyd] are expected to improve the result. However, the earnings situation is still negative."
The better-than-expected Hapag-Lloyd figures were mainly responsible for TUI's narrower-than-expected first quarter net loss of $139.8 million compared with $211 million a year ago.
TUI will ask shareholders at its annual general meeting on Wednesday Feb. 17 to defeat a demand by its biggest shareholder Norwegian shipping billionaire John Fredriksen for a special audit on the company's sale of a majority stake in Hapag-Lloyd.