Hapag-Lloyd substantially increases rate, revenue & result in a successful Q2 2012 turn-around.
Following a seasonally weak first quarter, Hapag-Lloyd achieved a turnaround in the second quarter of 2012, improving its result by more than
EUR 125 million compared to Q1. This was primarily due to the rate increases successfully implemented by the Company, which started tobecome
effective in the second quarter.
In the second quarter, Hapag-Lloyd had to cope with a massive rise of EUR 330 million in transport expenses (+26%) as against the same period of last year. This stemmed particularly from soaring energy prices. At USD 694/tonne, the average bunker consumption price in Q2 was well above the going rate from a year earlier, which was already high (USD 609/tonne).
Despite the extreme pressure on costs, Hapag-Lloyd generated an operating profit of EUR 30.8 million (adjusted EBIT) in the second quarter of 2012. It thereby improved on its second-quarter performance from 2011 by 18%.
'Hapag-Lloyd increased the rate level very successfully in the second quarter. Following on from Q1 - which is always seasonally weak - this
means that we returned to operating profitability because we have a highly efficient cost management system and have consistently prioritised price quality over transport volume. However, the further increase in expenses for bunker and other energy costs prevented us from posting an even better result,' said Michael Behrendt, Chief Executive Officer at Hapag-Lloyd.
