HHLA Profit Soars 47 Percent to $23.6 Million

HHLA, Hamburg’s biggest stevedore, increased first quarter profit by 47 percent from a year ago as container volume jumped 32 percent on surging European exports to China and buoyant traffic to Russia.

Profit rose to $23.6 million from $16.1 million for the first three months of 2010, with operating profit growing 24.2 percent to $63.4 million on a 22 percent increase in revenue to $417.3 million.

HHLA news from JOC:
HHLA Forecasts 10 Percent Growth.

The company, which handles about two-thirds of traffic in Europe’s third largest container port, forecast revenue, earnings and container traffic will growth “well above” 10 percent in 2011.

“The year got off to a remarkably successful start … and we were able to further expand our market share in container throughput and container transport,” CEO Klaus-Dieter Peters said.

Traffic at HHLA’s terminals in Hamburg and Odessa, Ukraine, surged to 1.65 million 20-foot-equivalent units in the first quarter from 1.25 million TEUs a year ago.

The increase was driven by 40.5 percent growth in exports to China and a 40.7 percent gain in European feeder traffic.

Feeder traffic to the Baltic ports, including Russia, booked the biggest increase of 64.8 percent, helping to boost the share of feeder shipments in HHLA’s total throughput to 25 percent from 22 percent last year.

HHLA said its growth outpaced a 10 percent increase in Rotterdam, 7.9 percent growth in Antwerp and 24.9 percent in neighboring Bremen/Bremerhaven.

HHLA’s intermodal unit boosted hinterland traffic, mainly by rail to inland Germany, Central and Eastern Europe, by 20.1 percent to a record 454,000 TEUs.

-- Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarndard47@hotmail.com.