HHLA makes impressive start to 2008

HHLA makes impressive start to 2008 European port logistics firm Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG saw its profit after tax leap 44.5 percent to 59.6 million euros in the first quarter.
   HHLA’s earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 29.8 percent to 92.6 million euros, while revenue improved 15.5 percent to 320.8 million euros.
   The company said the main factors behind the financial growth were the container trades with Asia, the Baltic region and the hinterland in Central and Eastern Europe.
   During the quarter HHLA's container terminals in Hamburg, Germany, and Odessa in the Ukraine handled 1.83 million TEUs, up 8.5 percent year on year.
   The company's intermodal segment increased its throughput 11.4 percent to 439,000 TEUs.
   'HHLA has made a successful start to the year 2008. With heavy utilization of our facilities and transport systems, steep increases in volumes, and growth rates in revenues and result outpacing these, in the first quarter we continued our profitable growth course,' said Klaus-Dieter Peters, chief executive officer.
   He added the company expects to see double-digit growth in revenue for the full year.
   'We are adhering to our forecast for the year as a whole. On the basis of the trend so far, for 2008 we anticipate total revenues of around 1.3 billion euros. At group level, EBIT should for the first time exceed the 300-million-euro threshold.'
   To meet projected growth for North Europe container handling and transport, HHLA plans to spend 1.5 billion euros expanding its handling capacities, hinterland network and its logistics activities up to 2012.