HAPAG-LLOYD PREDICTS RISE IN PROFITS

   Hapag-Lloyd, the German transport and logistics group, said that it expects to report increased profits from its liner shipping business this year and next year.
   In the current 1998/1999 financial year, due to end on Sept. 30, liner shipping at Hapag-Lloyd will return an operating profit of about DM100 million ($53 million), up by a third on a comparable basis.
   Last year, Hapag-LLoyd formally reported a DM50 million operating profit from liner shipping, but it covered a transitional of only 9 months, between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, 1998.
   Bernd Wrede, chairman of Hapag-Lloyd, said that the carrier has increased carryings by over 15 percent this year, to about 1.5 million TEUs, without increasing its staff force.
   Membership of the Grand Alliance has saved Hapag-Lloyd over $10 million a year, said Gunther Casjens, chief executive officer of Hapag-Lloyd Container Line.
   The Hapag-Lloyd group, which will now include liner shipping, chemicals logistics, leasing of "modules" and cruises, expects to return a pre-tax group profit of over DM200 million ($105 million) in the 1999/2000 financial year, due to end on Sept. 30, 2000.
   On Oct. 1, Hapag-Lloyd is to complete the transfer to its parent company, the Preussag group, of all its tourism activities, with the exception of cruise shipping.