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Posted by Dale Crisp
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14 May, 2026
HAPAG-Lloyd has declared its first quarter 2026 results “unsatisfactory” after Group profit fell markedly below Q1 2025 earnings.
Nevertheless, or maybe because of Q1, the company has not changed its outlook for the full-year 2026 — lower earnings are expected in a difficult market environment.
Hapag-Lloyd finished the first quarter of 2026 with a Group EBITDA of USD 494 million (EUR 422 million). In the same period, the Group EBIT declined to USD -157 million (EUR -134 million) and the Group profit to USD -256 million (EUR -219 million).
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, earnings were impacted by lower freight rates and operational disruptions as a result of severe weather conditions and the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
In the Liner Shipping segment, revenues decreased to USD 4.8 billion (EUR 4.1 billion), primarily due to the lower average freight rate of USD 1,330/TEU (Q1 2025: USD 1,471/TEU).
Transport volume was 3.2 million TEU and nearly on par with the prior-year quarter — despite bad weather conditions in Europe and North America, which resulted in ongoing disruptions of terminal operations and supply chains, the carrier, global Number Five reported.
Additionally, the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz led to disrupted volume flows. EBITDA decreased to USD 447 million (EUR 382 million), while EBIT amounted to USD -174 million (EUR -149 million).
In the Terminal & Infrastructure segment, revenues increased to USD 168 million (EUR 144 million) in the first quarter of 2026 due to the first-time full consolidation of J M Baxi's container business as well as strong volume growth in Latin America and India. EBITDA rose to USD 47 million (EUR 40 million), while EBIT amounted to USD 18 million (EUR 15 million).
“The first quarter of 2026 was unsatisfactory for us, with weather-related supply chain disruptions and pressure on freight rates leading to significantly lower results,” CEO Rolf Habben Jansen said. “At the same time, our Gemini network [with Maersk] has proven its resilience even under difficult conditions, helping us maintain a reliable service offering for our customers.
“We will stay firmly focused on our Strategy 2030 and the next milestones for the successful completion of our merger agreement with ZIM while we maintain our rigorous cost management as we navigate the volatile market environment,” he said.
For the 2026 financial year, the Executive Board continues to expect the Group EBITDA to be in the range of USD 1.1 to 3.1 billion (EUR 0.9 to 2.6 billion) and the Group EBIT to be in the range of USD -1.5 to 0.5 billion (EUR -1.3 to 0.4 billion). This outlook remains subject to considerable uncertainty due to the highly volatile development of freight rates and the conflict in the Middle East, the Board said.
