Next year will be challenging, but the ocean carrier said Q3 operating earnings are a ‘first step in right direction.’
Hapag-Lloyd said it expects to complete its acquisition of the container business of the Chilean carrier CSAV “in the coming weeks.”
The company said, “As soon as all relevant antitrust authorities have approved the transaction, CSAV’s container business will be integrated into the Hapag-Lloyd Group.”
Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive officer of the Hamburg, Germany-based company, added, “We expect 2015 to be yet another challenging year. But we all have good reason to look ahead with optimism.
“With CSAV’s container business, Hapag-Lloyd will become the fourth largest liner shipping company in the world,” he continued. “In addition to our market leadership in the North Atlantic, together we will also become one of the leading providers in the attractive North–South trades.”
Hapag-Lloyd said it had a loss of 50.7 million euros ($63.2 million) in the third quarter of 2014, compared with a profit of 16.6 million euros in the third quarter of 2013. Its operating income, or adjusted EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes), was 33.1 million euro — less than half of what it was in the same period a year earlier.
The German container carrier had revenue of 1.681 billion euro, compared with 1.664 billion euro in the third quarter of 2013
Habben Jansen said while the positive operating earnings are “a first step in the right direction, we are not satisfied with the result. We are, however, on a good path.”
Hapag-Lloyd said it expects synergies of $300 million from the combination with CSAV’s container business, and it is “using a comprehensive optimization package to face the continuing challenges of the market and the competition.”
These include “targeted measures to further cut costs, but also optimization of sales,” the company said.
Hapag-Lloyd moved 1.473 million TEUs in the third quarter, compared 1.392 million TEUs in the same 2013 period. However, the average freight rate was $1,448 per TEU in the third quarter, down from $1,476 per TEU in the third quarter of 2013.
Separately, CSAV said it had a net loss of $35.4 million in the third quarter of 2014, compared with a loss of $46.7 million in the same 2013 period. It said freight rates fell 5.9 percent in that period.
CSAV said it moved 2.8 percent more cargo in the third quarter of 2014 than in the same 2013 period.
Hapag-Lloyd expects to close CSAV deal ‘in coming weeks’
