HHLA volume growth drives up revenues

Logistics provider and container terminal operator Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) recorded group revenues of 942.8 million euros for the first nine months of 2017, up 8.3 percent from the corresponding 2016 period.    Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) recorded earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of 245.3 million euros (U.S. $289.3 million) for the first nine months of 2017, up 12.3 percent from the corresponding 2016 period, according to the logistics provider and container terminal operator’s latest financial statements.
   Group revenues totaled 942.8 million euros for the first nine months of 2017, up 8.3 percent year-over-year, primarily due to the volumes trend in container throughput and container transport.
   HHLA handled 5.45 million TEUs during the first nine months of 2017, a 10.8 percent increase from the same period last year.
   Throughput at HHLA’s three Hamburg terminals – HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder, HHLA Terminal Burchardkai and HHLA Container Terminal Tollerort – collectively totaled 5.24 million TEUs for the first nine months of 2017, up 11.3 percent year-over-year.
   HHLA said its Hamburg terminals benefitted from the reorganization of shipping line services, and experienced exceptionally strong growth with the high-volume Asia routes. “Alongside China – the Port of Hamburg’s most important trading partner – heightened trade with Russia contributed towards a substantial 17.9 percent increase in feeder traffic with the Baltic Sea ports,” HHLA said.
   Meanwhile, throughput at Container Terminal Odessa, located in the Ukraine along the Black Sea, totaled 212,000 TEUs for the first nine months of 2017, down from 213,000 TEUs from the corresponding 2016 period.
   HHLA attributed the slight decline to delays in ship handling in late September caused by unfavorable weather conditions.
   In HHLA’s intermodal segment, its transport companies saw transport volumes rise 6.8 percent year-over-year for the first nine months of 2017 to 1.1 million TEUs. “This trend was driven by growth in both rail and road transport,” HHLA said.
   Overall, HHLA closed out the quarter with 5,565 employees as of Sept. 30, a 0.7 percent increase from 12 months prior.
   Looking ahead, HHLA Executive Board Chairwoman Angela Titzrath said, “Uncertainty remains in the form of the volatile trend in international trade, which has prompted a structural slowdown in growth over recent years and in the conditions at the Port of Hamburg. We are still waiting for work to commence on the dredging of the river Elbe.”