Hapag-Lloyd has announced that its sales hit €1.5bn during the second quarter of 2011, while its earnings before interest and taxation came in at €26m for the three-month period.
While earnings climbed on the €16.1m recorded in the opening quarter of 2011, they fell considerably from the €211.3m recorded in Q2 last year, the result of falling freight rates and 'significantly higher fuel costs (bunker)', the German group noted.
Further factors negatively impacting on profitability had included lower demand for transport services in Japan following the earthquake earlier in the year, and the weak dollar when compared with euro.
Pressure on rates rose through the first half of the year, Hapag-Lloyd said, with routes to and from Asia particularly affected – the average freight rate in the first quarter was US$1,563 per TEU, falling to US$1,531 per TEU in the second quarter. This was only partially offset by higher bunker prices and other energy-related costs, the group outlined.
Through the first six months of 2011, Hapag-Lloyd transported some 2.5m standard containers, up 3.3 per cent than the same period of 2010, led by North Atlantic transport at 582,000 TEU.
