Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG

XETRA:HHFA

Q1-2025 Earnings Call

[Angela Titzrath-Grimm, executive]

Thank you very much, and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome, and thank you for joining our conference call today on the financial results for the first 3 months of 2025.

Despite the continuing weak economy in Germany, geopolitical tensions, particularly the war in Ukraine and the escalating situation in the Middle East and increasing uncertainties as a result of U.S. trade policy, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG achieved strong growth in both revenue and operating results in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. In these uncertain times, we are once again benefiting from the fact that we have built a resilient and reliable business model.

The successful start to 2025 clearly shows that our investments, particularly in the expansion of the European HHLA network, are paying off. Our intermodal companies, Metrans and Roland Spedition achieved strong growth in transport volumes, which had a positive impact on revenue and earnings. Container throughput, both at the Hamburger terminals and our international terminals also developed positively compared with the previous year. This was due to the reorganization of various liner services, which led to an increase in volumes from the Far East, especially from China.

The strength of our business model is based on our ongoing commitment to managing the company with strategic foresight, technological innovation and a clear commitment to sustainable growth. We made good progress at our Hamburg terminals. Three new remote controlled container gantry cranes have been installed at CTA and are scheduled to go into operation by the end of the year.

Automation measures are also being implemented at CTB and terminal capacities are being expanded. Three additional automated storage blocks have been in operation since February, and the conversion of large shippers to AGVs is currently underway. At CTT, a pioneering research project on automated rail handling has been successfully completed.

All these projects contribute to our transformation process. By signing a social compensation scheme and modified collective wage agreement with the trade union ver.di, we have set the cost for the successful continuation of our efforts. This not only creates security and prospects for our employees, but also provides a reliable framework for the implementation of our transformation projects.

Another key component of our strategy is the expansion and strengthening of our European network. There is good news here, two: a new weekly service is being set up at our HHLA PLT Italy terminal to specifically increase our presence in the Mediterranean region; at the same time, the intermodal hinterland network and our range of service are being expanded, particularly at our rail subsidiary, Metrans.

On that note, I will hand over to Annette, who will take you through the key financial figures.

[Annette Walter, executive]

Thank you, Angela, and good afternoon, everyone, also from me. Let's move directly to the reporting of our Container segment. As Angela already mentioned, container throughput at HHLA's terminals developed positively and decreased by 5.5% to 1.544 million TEU in the first quarter of 2025. Throughput at our terminals in Hamburg rose by 5.1% to 1.472 million TEU. The main driver for this positive development was the significant increase in volumes for the Far East shipping region.

There was particularly strong growth in cargo volumes from China. By contrast, handling volumes for North America and the Middle East shipping regions started to decline. In addition, the consequences of temporary road changes due to the military conflict in the Red Sea continued to be felt. Cargo volumes with other European seaports, especially from Belgium, France and Portugal, rose strongly.

There was strong year-on-year growth in feeder tariff with positive volume effects from Germany, Poland and Finland. That said, the feeder ratio of seaborne handling increased by 1.2 percentage points to 20%. The international container terminals recorded a strong increase in throughput volume of 13.8% to 72,000 TEU. Besides the slight volume increase at the multifunctional terminal HHLA TK Estonia, rising volumes were driven by the resumption of seaborne handling at CTO since the third quarter of 2024. This more than offset the fall in throughput volume at HHLA PLT Italy in Trieste caused by ships being rerouted or canceled as a consequence of the military conflict in the Red Sea.

Segment revenue increased by 11.4% year-on-year to EUR 206.4 million. In addition to higher volumes, this was also due to longer dwell time and the resulting increase in storage fees. Moreover, HHLA's international container terminals contributed to this trend.

EBIT costs increased by 7.9% compared to the previous year, mainly due to higher personnel expenses due to union negotiated wage settlements, the additional deployment of GHB staff and an increase in both consultancies and related services and purchased services. The measures introduced in March '23 to safeguard earnings at the Hamburg container terminals, as well as further extensive transformation processes within the Container segment, had an opposing effect. There was also a decline in expenses for external maintenance services. Against this backdrop, EBIT rose by 68.3% to EUR 18 million, while the EBIT margin increased by 2.9 percentage points to 8.7%.

So let's have a look now at the Intermodal segment. Compared to the previous year, container transport increased by 28.7% to 496,000 TEU. Due to strong volume effects from Northern Germany and Adriatic seaports and traffic within Germany, Austria and Switzerland, rail transport grew by 30.1% to 428,000 g. We also have to keep in mind that transport volumes handled by Roland Spedition were not included in the same quarter of the previous year.

Road Transport also made encouraging progress with a strong increase to 20.4% to 68,000 TEU. While a year-on-year increase of 33.1% to EUR 202 million, revenue growth outperformed this increase in volumes. Alongside routine price adjustments, this was due to higher share of rail traffic and transport volumes, which was up 0.9 percentage points year-on-year at 86.3%. There was a volume-related increase in EBIT of 42.1% to EUR 20 million, while the EBIT margin was impacted by operational challenges such as construction work on major transfer routes. As a result, it increased only slightly by 0.6 percentage points to 9.9%.

Let's turn briefly to the Logistics segment, where we have pooled the Vehicle, Logistics and Consultancy divisions as well as business activities, with which HHLA aims to tap new growth fields. In the reporting period, the consolidated companies reported revenue of EUR 20.6 million, which was 7.2% up on the previous year. This was preliminary due to a strong contribution from Intermodal leasing activities. Nevertheless, there was still an EBIT loss of EUR 0.2 million. At equity earnings amounted to EUR 0.7 million for the reporting period, impacted by the weak performance of Bulk cargo handling against previous year.

Coming back to the Port Logistics subgroup as a whole, let's have a closer look at our cash flow development. Cash flow from operating activities increased by around EUR 30 million to roughly EUR 50.49 million as of March 31, '25. It mainly comprised earnings before interest and taxes, write-downs and write-ups on nonfinancial assets and the increase in trade payables and other liabilities. The main opposing items were the increase in trade receivables and other assets as well as interest payment and income tax payments.

Investing activities resulted in net cash outflow of EUR 69.5 million, which was roughly EUR 6 million below the prior year figure. This chiefly related to payments for investments in property, plant and equipment and investment property amounting to EUR 62.7 million. As in the previous year, there were no outgoing or incoming payments for short-term deposits in the first quarter of 2025.

As a result, free cash flow of the Port Logistics subgroup was negative at EUR 14.6 million. Financing activities resulted in a cash outflow of EUR 18 million. This resulted mainly from the redemption of lease liabilities and outgoing repayments of financial loans. It was offset by proceeds from the assumption of financial loans. Overall, our available liquidity at the end of March 2025 remained at a sound level of EUR 217.5 million.

I hand over to Angela.

[Angela Titzrath-Grimm, executive]

Ladies and gentlemen, we are steering through uncertain times, which continue to present major challenges due to the volatile situation. Although the growth momentum of the seaborne handling in the first quarter fell short of our expectations for the year as a whole, we are still confident that we can pick up the pace during the second quarter. We are receiving positive signals from our customers that handling volumes will pick up at the Hamburg terminals over the course of this year.

Despite the many uncertainties, we are sticking to our forecast for the current year. Specifically, this means for the current financial year, a strong year-on-year increase is expected for both container throughput and container transport. Strong year-on-year growth is also expected for revenue in the Port Logistics subgroup and EBIT in the range of EUR 180 million to EUR 220 million is considered possible.

To further increase efficiency and expand capacity in the Container and Intermodal segments, capital expenditure in the Port Logistics subgroup will be in the range of EUR 420 million to EUR 470 million. Around half of this will be invested in the Container segment with the majority going to the Hamburg container terminals. These investments will focus on the efficiency use of existing terminal space in the Port of Hamburg and the expansion of foreign terminals. The other half will be used primarily for the further expansion of the group's own transport and handling capacities in the Intermodal segment.

With this outlook, I would like to close my remarks on our financial results for the first 3 months of 2025. Annette and I will be happy to take your questions now.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] There are no questions at this time. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Angela Titzrath for any closing remarks.

[Angela Titzrath-Grimm, executive]

Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, in a challenging market environment, HHLA continues to look ahead with confidence. Especially in times of dynamic change, innovative technologies, our strong network and a partnership-based cooperation are crucial for competitiveness. With this in mind, we will continue to pursue the strategic development of our company, laying the foundation for long-term growth, strengthening our market position and shaping the future of logistics. Thank you very much for your interest in HHLA. Please stay healthy and take care. Goodbye.