EMEA News
Bunker Costs "Weighed Heavily" on Hapag-Lloyd Q3 Result
German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd says it boosted its profits to €45.6 million ($58.1 million) in the third quarter of 2012, up from €9.6 million ($12.2 million) for Q3 2011, while its revenues rose to €1.8 billion ($2.3 billion) from €1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) in the same period last year.
"Given the intense competition and gloomier economic prospects this is a good result," said Michael Behrendt, Chairman of the Executive Board.
"Unfortunately, given the absence of the peak season, we were not able to continue the upward trend in freight rates in the third quarter."
For the year so far, the company said increases in freight rates, which went from an average of $1,529 per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) in Q3 2011 to $1,647 per TEU in Q3 2012, have helped its results despite higher bunker prices.
"The sharp rise in energy costs again weighed heavily on the result," the company said.
"Transport expenses, of which bunker is the largest component, were nearly EUR 750 million higher than last year in the first nine months."
The company, along with fellow carriers Maersk Line and APL, raised its freight rates in July.
Looking ahead, Hapag-Lloyd said the fourth quarter "will be dominated by the intensifying effects of the debt crisis in the eurozone," but despite high bunker prices and a gloomy economic outlook, the company says it striving to achieve a positive operating result for the current financial year.
