Jansen to remain at Hapag-Lloyd‘s helm until 2029

In a strategic move set to solidify the stability of its leadership, the Supervisory Board of German liner major Hapag-Lloyd has greenlit the early extension of CEO Rolf Habben Jansen’s contract until March 2029.

Jansen has been a member of the Executive Board since April 1, 2014, and took the helm of Hapag-Lloyd AG in July 2014.

“Rolf Habben Jansen has been doing an excellent job for Hapag-Lloyd for almost a decade. During this time, he has continuously evolved the company strategically, significantly internationalised it and kept it safely on a growth course despite occasionally rough seas. By renewing the appointment of Rolf Habben Jansen, the Supervisory Board is focusing on continuity and is at the same time convinced that this will make an important contribution to the continued success story of Hapag-Lloyd,” said Michael Behrendt, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG.

In addition, the Supervisory Board has agreed to extend the contract of Chief Information Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer (CIO/CHRO) Donya-Florence Amer for another five years, to 31 January 2030.

“Over the past two years, Donya-Florence Amer and her teams have played a key role in advancing the company’s strategically important digital transformation in all business areas. In addition, she has successfully instituted important changes in human resources and anchored the Hapag-Lloyd Academy as a global hub for training and continuing education within the company,” added Behrendt.

2023 performance was the third-best result in the company’s history

Hapag-Lloyd today published its annual report for 2023, revealing a significant decrease in earnings. According to the report, the group EBITDA stood at USD 4.8 billion (EUR 4.5 billion). The Group EBIT experienced a year-on-year decrease to USD 2.7 billion, and the group profit to USD 3.2 billion. Still, the figures are the third-best result in the company’s history.

“We achieved the third-best group profit in the history of our company – even if it is significantly lower than it was in the exceptionally strong year 2022 due to the normalisation of global supply chains. We were able to considerably boost customer satisfaction and the digitalisation of our container fleet. We significantly expanded our business in the Terminal & Infrastructure segment and grew our liner shipping activities in India and Africa. We reduced our carbon footprint, taking another step towards our goal of becoming net-zero carbon by 2045,” said Jansen.

In the Liner Shipping segment, transport volumes for 2023 as a whole rose by 0.5% to 11.9 million TEU (2022: 11.8 million TEU). Transport expenses lowered by 11% to USD 12.9 billion, primarily due to lower expenditures for demurrage and storage fees for containers and a lower bunker consumption price. Revenues dropped to USD 19.2 billion, primarily owing to a lower average freight rate of 1,500 USD/TEU (2022: 2,863 USD/TEU). The EBITDA for 2023 decreased to USD 4.8 billion compared to 2022. The EBIT fell to USD 2.7 billion.

In the Terminal & Infrastructure segment, an EBITDA of USD 50 million and an EBIT of USD 21 million were achieved in the 2023 financial year. Revenues stood at USD 202 million. Since the new segment is still in the process of being formed, Hapag said that it does not reflect the results of a full financial year.

In light of what has been another very good earnings trend, the Executive Board and Supervisory Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG proposed a dividend of EUR 9.25 per share for the 2023 financial year – which would correspond to a total of EUR 1.6 billion and the third-highest amount ever paid out by Hapag-Lloyd.

For the current 2024 financial year, Hapag-Lloyd expects the Group EBITDA to be in the range of USD 1.1 to 3.3 billion and the Group EBIT to be in the range of USD minus 1.1 to 1.1 billion. However, this forecast remains subject to considerable uncertainty given the volatile development of freight rates and geopolitical challenges.

“We have got the current financial year off to a satisfactory start, but the economic and political environment continues to be volatile and challenging – especially in view of the current situation around the Red Sea. We therefore expect to see an overall decrease in earnings in 2024. As part of our Strategy 2030, we will be focusing even more intensively on quality and sustainability. We will continue to grow in our new Terminal & Infrastructure business as well as our share and portfolio of hinterland transports. At the same time, we will also need to reinforce our top 5 position on the global market and realise improvements in terms of cost efficiency and productivity,” Jansen concluded.