Hapag-Lloyd achieved a net result of €46 million (US$52 million) for 2018, a year-on-year increase of 39.4%, according to the company’s annual report.

Revenue grew by 15.5% to €11.5 billion (US$13 billion), while EBIT rose by 7.8% to €443 million (US$ million).

“The market environment in 2018 was certainly not easy: in the first half of the year, freight rates were below our expectations and bunker prices and costs increased during the year,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive officer of Hapag-Lloyd. “In the second half of the year, however, these effects were partially offset as we benefitted from higher global transport volumes, better freight rates and improvements on the cost side. All in all, we are satisfied with the financial results for 2018.”

Hapag-Lloyd transported a total of 11.9 million TEUs in 2018, 21.1% more than in 2017. This was partly due to the merger with UASC in 2017.

The average freight rate for the year fell by 1.5% to US$1,044/TEU, although the fourth quarter of 2018 saw the rate rise to US$1,079/TEU.

On a pro forma basis and when compared to the combined business of Hapag-Lloyd and UASC for the full year of 2017, the transport volume for 2018 was up 6% and the average freight rate was up 2%.

“While our business is and will remain cyclical, market conditions have gradually improved for liner shipping companies over the last few years,” said Habben Jansen. “Our course for the next few years is set and our objectives for 2019 are clear: improve earnings, further reduce our debt and continue to implement our Strategy 2023 – all aimed at creating more value for our customers and for our shareholders as we strive to become number one for quality.”

Based on the International Monetary Fund’s recent economic outlook of 3.5% global economic growth and 4.0% global trade volume growth for 2019, Hapag-Lloyd expects a rise in its transport volume in 2019, in line with the general growth of the market.

Assuming a lower increase in global transport capacity compared to 2018, the average freight rate is likely to increase slightly in 2019 and the average bunker consumption price in 2019 will also be moderately higher, according to Hapag-Lloyd.