Hapag-Lloyd concluded the first quarter of 2024 with a Group EBITDA of USD 942 million (EUR 868 million).
In the Liner Shipping segment, the transport volumes for the first quarter of 2024 increased by 6.8 percent, to 3 million TEU (Q1 2023: 2.8 million TEU). Transport expenses were on a par with the same quarter of the previous year, at USD 3.3 billion (EUR 3 billion). Although costs rose significantly as a result of the rerouting of ships around the Cape of Good Hope, these were largely offset by active cost management.
Revenues decreased to USD 4.6 billion (EUR 4.3 billion), primarily owing to a lower average freight rate of 1,359 USD/TEU (Q1 2023: 1,999 USD/TEU). Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, the EBITDA decreased to USD 906 million (EUR 835 million) and the EBIT to USD 378 million (EUR 348 million).
In the Terminal & Infrastructure segment, an EBITDA of USD 35 million (EUR 32 million) and an EBIT of USD 18 million (EUR 16 million) were achieved in the first quarter of 2024. The new segment was only created in the second half of 2023 and is currently in the process of being established. For this reason, the figures for the first quarter of 2024 are only comparable with the prior-year figures to a limited extent.
In view of the positive business performance in the first quarter of 2024, the Executive Board has refined its forecast for the current financial year, which was published on 14 March 2024. The Group EBITDA is now expected to be in the range of USD 2.2 to 3.3 billion (EUR 2 to 3 billion) and the Group EBIT to be in the range of USD 0 to 1.1 billion (EUR 0 to 1 billion). It is still assumed that a large part of the projected result will be generated in the first half of the year. In view of the highly volatile development of freight rates and major geopolitical challenges, this forecast remains subject to a high degree of uncertainty.