Hapag-Lloyd 2024 profit navigates disruptions

Container rates comparable to a year ago

A Hapag-Lloyd containership in the Port of Savanna (Photo: Iryna Liveoak / Shutterstock.com)

Ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd sailed past supply chain disruptions in announcing preliminary full-year financial results for 2024.

The German company said based on preliminary and unaudited figures, group pre-tax earnings totaled $5 billion in fiscal 2024, up from $4.8 billion in 2023.  Group operating earnings also improved slightly to $2.8 billion from $2.7 billion.

Both figures were at the upper end of the earnings forecast from October, the company said in a release.

The carrier, which is partnering on the new Gemini shipping cooperative with Maersk, said higher transport volumes and a stable average freight rate contributed significantly to earnings gains.

A quarterly rate of $1,492/TEU compared favorably to $1,500/TEU a year ago.

Revenue rose to $20.7 billion on stronger demand for container services from $19.4 billion. Transport volumes increased by around 5% to 12.5 million TEUs, despite diversions away from the Red Sea-Suez Canal route on associated longer travel times.

The company will report audited results for fiscal year 2024 and the forecast for the current year on March 20.

Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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Stuart Chirls

Stuart Chirls is a journalist who has covered the full breadth of railroads, intermodal, container shipping, ports, supply chain and logistics for Railway Age, the Journal of Commerce and IANA. He has also staffed at S&P, McGraw-Hill, United Business Media, Advance Media, Tribune Co., The New York Times Co., and worked in supply chain with BASF, the world's largest chemical producer. Reach him at stuartchirls@firecrown.com.