Hapag-Lloyd registered a net loss of US$9 million (EUR7.3 million) in the second quarter of the year, a better performance from its $13.1 million (EUR10.6 million) net loss for the same period a year ago.
The Hamburg-based ocean carrier said higher freight rates failed to offset rising fuel costs, its biggest expense.
But operating profit rose 18 percent to $38.2 million from April to June, and revenue also increased, up 21 percent to $2.2 billion.
The German box ship said that while shipping lines have hiked their freight rates, the increases were not enough to counter the rising energy prices, adding that further rate increases were “unavoidable.”
“High bunker prices in particular cause our expenses to increase dramatically—they are by far the biggest cost factor for our business,” said Michael Behrendt, chief executive officer. “Further rate increases are crucial to compensate for these elevated external costs.”
For the first half of the year, the company managed to raise its revenue to $4.2 billion from $3.7 billion in 2011, but it suffered a net loss of $173.2 million from $40.5 million due to high bunker and energy prices.
The Hamburg-based carrier said it “is striving to post positive operating earnings again for the current financial year, provided that there is no fundamental escalation of the risks and assuming it proves possible to implement further rate increases in the course of 2012.”
Photo courtesy of Hapag-Lloyd
