Hapag-Lloyd Back in Black
German container shipping group Hapag-Lloyd has reported a net profit of €114 million ($127.5 million) on revenue of €8.8 billion for 2015 – a turnaround from a loss of €604 million on revenue of €6.8 billion the previous year.
The firm has suffered from serious losses in recent years and posted a €604 million loss in 2014. The firm noted that presence in attractive niche markets, combined with a balanced trade portfolio had led to "synergies, cost-cutting program and a more competitive fleet.
The company announced that earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to €831 million ($929 million), a jump up over the year previous when EBITDA earnings were €99 million ($110.7 million).
Commenting on the results Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said: "2015 was a very good year for Hapag-Lloyd. We delivered on what we promised, our business is better positioned than before the CSAV merger, and for the first time since 2010 we have a positive result – and we are very delighted by this."
"We believe that the ongoing consolidation and the upcoming new alliance set-up should add stability to the market, and that there will be some recovery of the market," Rolf said.
Having merged with Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) in December 2014, it reaps $400 million (£284 million) a year in synergy savings, and in addition launched a series of cost savings programs.
Habben Jansen said his company wanted to remain a "top five player" in the future and had set some ambitious cost-cutting and revenue improvement targets to ensure this: "We've worked hard for this success by quickly integrating CSAV's container business and by exploiting the synergies, as well as with the OCTAVE cost-cutting and efficiency program, which will make a total earnings contribution of US$600 million [in] 2016."
Hapag-Lloyd operates over 100 services worldwide.