ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. announced its consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2024, according to the company's release.
The company reported full-year revenues of $8.43 billion, net income of $2.15 billion, Adjusted EBITDA of $3.69 billion, and Adjusted EBIT of $2.55 billion. Net income, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBIT margins were 26%, 44%, and 30%, respectively.
ZIM achieved a 14% volume growth in 2024, with a record carried volume of 982 thousand TEUs in the fourth quarter, marking the third consecutive quarter of record volume.
The company declared a fourth-quarter dividend of approximately $382 million, or $3.17 per share, bringing total 2024 dividends to $961 million, or $7.98 per share, representing approximately 45% of full-year net income.
For 2025, ZIM forecasts Adjusted EBITDA between $1.6 billion and $2.2 billion and Adjusted EBIT between $350 million and $950 million.
In the fourth quarter, net income was $563 million, compared to a net loss of $147 million in the same period of 2023, with diluted earnings per share of $4.66, compared to a diluted loss per share of $1.23.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $967 million, up 409% year-over-year, while Adjusted EBIT was $658 million, compared to an Adjusted EBIT loss of $49 million in Q4 2023.
Revenues reached $2.17 billion, an 80% increase from $1.21 billion in Q4 2023.
Carried volume rose to 982 thousand TEUs, a 25% increase from 786 thousand TEUs, with an average freight rate per TEU of $1,886, up 71% from $1,102.
Operating income (EBIT) for the quarter was $658 million, compared to an operating loss of $54 million in Q4 2023.
Net cash from operating activities was $1.15 billion, compared to $162 million in the prior year’s quarter.
For the full year, operating income (EBIT) was $2.53 billion, compared to an operating loss of $2.51 billion in 2023, which included a $2.06 billion non-cash impairment charge.
Total carried volume was 3,751 thousand TEUs, up 14% from 3,281 thousand TEUs, with an average freight rate per TEU of $1,888, a 57% increase from $1,203.
Net cash from operating activities totaled $3.75 billion, compared to $1.02 billion in 2023. The net leverage ratio as of December 31, 2024, was 0.8x, down from 2.2x a year earlier, with net debt at $2.88 billion, up from $2.31 billion.
Eli Glickman, ZIM President & CEO, stated, “We are pleased and proud with the Company’s outstanding performance in 2024, during which we delivered record carried volume as well as exceptional profitability. Based on our continued progress upscaling our capacity and optimizing our cost structure, we reported our best results ever, excluding the extraordinary COVID period. Consistent with our commitment to returning capital to shareholders, the dividend declared today, together with the dividends distributed during 2024, total $7.98 per share, or $961 million, representing approximately 45% of our full year net income.”
Glickman added, “The benefits of our fleet transformation were evident throughout 2024 and reflected in our strong financial results, as well as volume growth that far outpaced the overall market. With larger vessels well-poised to meet emissions reduction targets and tailored to the trades in which we operate, we increased carried volumes 14% year-over-year, compared to average market growth of approximately 6%, while delivering superior margins. Driving our market share gains was the new capacity deployed on the Asia to U.S. East Coast trade, the successful expedited services to the U.S. West Coast, and our expanded presence in Latin America.”
He concluded, “We enter 2025 with a more resilient business and modern cost- and fuel-efficient capacity, 40% of which is LNG-fueled. While acknowledging that our industry is highly volatile, exacerbated by current uncertainty related to geopolitics, international political dynamics and economic, fiscal and monetary policies, we are confident in our agile approach and competitive position in the industry. Our 2025 outlook of Adjusted EBITDA between $1.6 billion and $2.2 billion and Adjusted EBIT between $350 million and $950 million assumes trade conditions in the Red Sea will not normalize until the second half of the year at the earliest.”
The dividend will be paid on April 3, 2025, to shareholders of record as of March 24, 2025, subject to the discretion of the Board of Directors and Israeli law restrictions.
ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd., founded in 1945 and headquartered in Haifa, Israel, operates a global network of container shipping services across more than 100 countries, with a fleet of 150 vessels as of early 2024.