HHLA drives up EBIT, revenues

The logistics provider and container terminal operator finalizes deal to buy Estonia-based Transiidikeskuse AS.    Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA), a logistics provider and container terminal operator, recorded earnings before interest and taxes of 99.9 million euros (U.S. $113.4 million) for the first half of 2018, up 1.1 percent year-over-year.
   Revenues for the first half of the year totaled 633 million euros, up 1.6 percent from the corresponding 2017 period.
   In March, HHLA signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in Tallinn, Estonia-based terminal operator Transiidikeskuse AS, and the deal was finalized on June 27.
   Container throughput handled by HHLA’s terminals during the first half of the year collectively totaled 3.6 million TEUs, up 1.2 percent from the same period in 2017. HHLA’s three container terminals in Hamburg handled 3.5 million TEUs during the first half of 2018, up 0.9 percent year-over-year, while throughput at the HHLA-operated terminal in Odessa totaled 158,000 TEUs, up 8.3 percent year-over-year.
   HHLA closed out the second quarter of 2018 with 5,849 employees, up from 5,581 employees at the end of last year’s second quarter, mainly due to the consolidation of Transiidikeskuse.