Hapag-Lloyd Shares Fall After Earnings Miss Forecasts

By Adria Calatayud

Hapag-Lloyd shares fell after the company reported preliminary fourth-quarter earnings that dropped due to sharply lower freight rates, missing analysts' expectations.

At 0947 GMT on Tuesday, shares in the German shipping company traded 9.6% lower at EUR140, but remained up 3.7% since the beginning of the year.

Hapag-Lloyd posted a loss before interest and taxes of about 200 million euros ($216.7 million) for the fourth quarter compared with a profit of EUR3.3 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter dropped to EUR3.8 billion from EUR7.8 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell to about EUR300 million from EUR3.8 billion.

Analysts expected Hapag-Lloyd to report a quarterly operating loss of EUR16.2 million, Ebitda of EUR471.2 million and revenue of EUR3.83 billion, according to consensus estimates provided by Visible Alpha.

"In the context of the Red Sea disruptions and heightened freight rates Hapag Lloyd's share price has increased disproportionately [relative to Danish shipping giant A.P. Moeller-Maersk]--which we view as unjustified," UBS analysts said in a research note.

As of Monday's close, Hapag-Lloyd shares were up nearly 15% since the beginning of the year, while Maersk was up 3%.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2024 05:04 ET (10:04 GMT)

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