Good half-year for HHLA

In the first half of 2014, Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) increased its revenue by 5.2% to €595m (US$796m) and improved its operating result (EBIT) by 3.4% to €81m (US$108m).

With throughput growth of 2.1% at its Hamburg container terminals, the company said it has consolidated its market position among the north of Europe’s major ports. However the drop in container traffic at Odessa, Ukraine resulting from the crisis in the region, meant that its container segment saw an overall throughput increase of 0.7%, or 3.8m teu for the first half year.

Feeder traffic via the Baltic to Russia declined for the first time since 2009. In contrast, the throughput growth in Hamburg was due to the sharp rise of 8% in Far East traffic on existing liner services compared with the first half of 2013.