Hapag-Lloyd swings to $173 million first-half loss despite revenue growth
Hapag-Lloyd, the German container shipping line, posted $829 million in second-quarter earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, slightly above the $820 million figure from the same period a year earlier. The company attributed the modest year-over-year gain to robust exports out of Asia and improving U.S. demand.
Second-quarter revenue rose to $5.84 billion, up from $5.27 billion in the year-prior period, according to the company’s report.
The quarterly growth came after a first quarter that the company said was weighed down by operational disruptions. Hapag-Lloyd did not specify the nature of those disruptions in its report.
Cost pressures remained significant. The company said the Middle East conflict added roughly $600 million in costs during the second quarter, even as volumes improved from the prior-year period.
Despite the sequential quarterly recovery, Hapag-Lloyd swung to a $173 million group loss for the first half overall, compared with a $775 million profit in the same period a year earlier.
The company’s shares, listed under the ticker HLAG, were up 0.90% following the report.