HAPAG-LLOYD WARNS SAGGING U.S. ECONOMY MAY TRIM PROFITS

HAPAG-LLOYD WARNS SAGGING U.S. ECONOMY MAY TRIM PROFITS    Hapag-Lloyd AG, based in Hamburg, Germany, a transportation and logistics company owned by Preussag AG, said Tuesday that the slowing U.S. economy may impact profit in 2001 from its container shipping unit, which accounts for 60 percent of the company’s sales.
   Full-year earnings could be “affected negatively by a massive and fast weakening of the U.S. economy, as well as the rising oil prices,” said Bernd Wrede, chief executive of Hapag-Lloyd AG.
   Operating profit for the company’s container shipping sector tripled to 160 million euro last year. In Hapag-Lloyd’s VTG-Lehnkering logistics unit, operating profit rose from 17 million to 26 million euro in 2000.