Hapag-Lloyd earnings soar following CSAV merger

The German ocean carrier’s revenues increased from 6.8 billion euros in 2014 to 8.8 billion euros in 2015, primarily due to its merger with the container business of Chilean carrier CSAV in December 2014.    German ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd’s earnings before interest, tax, debt and amortization (EBITDA) reached 831 million euros (U.S. $922.4 million) for 2015, a sharp increase from the EBITDA of 98.9 million euros for 2014, according to the company’s preliminary and unaudited financial statements.
   Hapag-Lloyd posted revenues of 8.8 billion euros (U.S. $9.8 billion) for 2015, compared to revenues of 6.8 billion euros for 2014. The carrier primarily attributed the increase in revenues to its merger with the container business of Chilean ocean carrier CSAV in December 2014.
   In 2015, transport volumes rose to around 7.4 million TEUs, compared to the prior year’s volumes of 5.9 million TEUs.
   The company’s final full year 2015 group accounts and annual report for 2015 will be published March 23.
   Hapag-Lloyd operates with a fleet of 177 modern containerships and offers a total transport capacity of almost one million standard containers. The carrier is owned by CSAV (31.4 percent), the City of Hamburg (20.6 percent), Kühne Maritime (20.2 percent), TUI (12.3 percent) and a free float (15.5 percent), according to its website.