The net profit of German container line Hapag-Lloyd grew by 2.6 times and amounted to 8.2 million EUR in Q3 2016. The German carrier benefited from the merger with UASC and the closer working relationship within the new THE Alliance. The positive finance statement in the third quarter has overcome by a weak first half of 2016, which slashed operating profit in the first nine months to 25.9 million EUR from 348.6 million EUR an year ago. Moreover, the significantly lower freight rates since the beginning of the year shrank revenue by 1.1 billion EUR to 5.7 billion EUR. As a result, despite the positive results of the last quarter, the result for the first nine months of Hapag-Lloyd were described as unsatisfactory.

“The market has been very difficult so far this year, but in that environment Hapag-Lloyd has performed relatively well, which underlines our competitiveness, and we are pleased to report a net profit in the third quarter”, said the CEO of Hapag-Lloyd, Rolf Habben Jansen. “The overall results so far this year remain unsatisfactory, but the net profit in Q3 indicates that we are on the right track and that our efforts to further reduce costs and to leverage economies of scale are paying off. Our main focus for the upcoming quarters will be to further optimize our cost position, ensure a smooth implementation of THE Alliance and to complete the transaction with UASC, to further solidify our position in this consolidating industry”, added he.

During the first nine months of 2016, Hapag-Lloyd transported totally 5.65 million TEU, which is approximately 1.3% higher than the same period of the previous year. At the same time, the average decline in freight rates for the period amounted to 17.7% yoy. As a result of the carrier’s revenue decreased by almost 20% to EUR 5.7 billion. However, the company succeeded to implement successful cost reduction project and decreased its operating expenses by 14% to 4.8 billion EUR.

Hapag-Lloyd is a German transportation company comprising a cargo container shipping line, which is the world’s fifth largest carrier in terms of vessel capacity.