BASED on preliminary figures, shipping line Hapag-Lloyd expects for the first half of 2021 an EBITDA of around US$4.2 billion (€3.5 billion) compared to around US$1.3 billion (€1.2 billion) in the prior-year period.
At the same time, EBIT is expected to be roughly US$3.5 billion (€2.9 billion) compared with approximately US$600 million (€500 million) in the first half of 2020.
Global demand for container transport remains at a high level. However, operational disruptions along the entire supply chain continue to cause significant delays and thereby contribute to the shortage of transport capacity.
Hapag-Lloyd expects earnings momentum to remain very strong in the second half of the financial year. Previously, a gradual normalisation of the earnings trend had been expected for the second half-year.
Given these circumstances, the executive board of Hapag-Lloyd has raised its earnings outlook for the 2021 financial year. EBITDA is now expected to be in the range of US$9.2 billion to 11.2 billion or €7.6 billion to 9.3 billion and EBIT in the range of US$7.5 billion to 9.5 billion or €6.2 billion to 7.9 billion, respectively.
Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said, “We also benefitted from better freight rates in the second quarter and are looking at a very strong first half-year overall.
“At the same time, since we firmly expect this momentum to carry over into the second half of the year, we have raised our earnings forecast for 2021 as a whole.
“We will continue to work tirelessly to reduce the impact of supply chain bottlenecks for our customers and to deliver a better service quality.”
The final business figures for the first half of 2021 will be published as planned on 12 August 2021.
