Brief analysis of Q4 2023 or 2023 unaudited performance of major shipping and logistics companies

Major global container shipping companies have successively announced their financial reports for the fourth quarter of 2023 and some published unaudited performance of the 2023.

Hapag Lloyd

On January 30, 2024, Hapag Lloyd, the fifth largest shipping company in the world, released preliminary financial data for 2023.

Source: Hapag Lloyd 2023 annual financial data

In fiscal 2023, Hapag Lloyd's average freight, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) all decreased compared with the same period of last year, but total traffic increased slightly year on year.

Hapag Lloyd said in the announcement that, as expected, Hapag Lloyd's earnings fell sharply in fiscal year 2023.

According to preliminary and unaudited data, Hapag Lloyd Group's revenue in fiscal year 2023 was $19.4 billion, down $17 billion or 47% from a year earlier.

Profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was $4.8 billion, down $15.6 billion or 76% on annual basis, profit before interest and tax (EBIT) was $2.7 billion, down $15.7 billion or 85% year on year.

Hapag Lloyd's overall traffic increased by 0.5% to 11.9 million TEU in 2023 (11.8 million TEU in 2022).

Hapag Lloyd said the 2023 annual report, which will include audited financial data and prospects for the current fiscal year, will be released on March 14, 2024.

One

On January 31, 2024, the ONE announced its results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2023 (Q4 2023, October 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023).

Data showed that in the fourth quarter of 2023, ONE realized operating income of US$3.357 billion, down 46.3% from the same period of last year and 5.4% from the previous quarter; profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was US$170 million, down 94.4% year on year and 65.7% on the quarter; profit before interest and tax (EBIT) lost US$248 million; net profit saw US$83 million of losses.

ONE expected full-year revenue to fall to $14.08 billion in fiscal 2023, EBIT to decline by about 98% to US$300 million and net profit to fall 94% to about US$856 million.

Maersk

On February 8, 2024, Maersk released its unaudited financial reports for the fourth quarter and full year of 2023.The company suffered a loss of US$460 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the report.

Specifically, Maersk posted revenue of US$11.7 billion in the fourth quarter, down 34.1% from the same period of last year. Meanwhile, the company's EBITDA (earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation) was US$840 million, down 87.2% from a year earlier. On earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), the company recorded a loss of US$540 million, compared with a profit of US$5.1 billion in the same period in 2022. As a result, net profit also posted a loss of US$456 million, down significantly from US$5 billion in the same period in 2022. EBIT's profit margin fell to -4.6%. 

In 2023, the company's financial performance was solid, in line with expectations.Revenue in 2023 was US$51.1 billion and profit margin before interest and tax (EBIT margin) was 7.7%, affected by falling freight rates.

Throughout 2023, Maersk achieved US$51.1 billion in revenue, a drop of 37.4% compared with the same period of last year, but still reflected the company's operational resilience. In terms of profitability, the company's EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) reached US$9.59 billion, down 73.9% from a year earlier. In addition, the company's EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) was US$3.93 billion, down 87.3% from a year earlier, while EBIT margin remained at 7.7%.

Financial expectations for 2024

Maersk expects real EBITDA for 2024 to be US$1-6 billion and real EBIT for a loss of US$0-5 billion.Free cash flow (FCF) may be minus US$5 billion.In 2023-2024, capital expenditure is expected to be US$8-9 billion.

HMM

On February 14, 2024, HMM, which was on the verge of collapse in 2016 and became a state-owned shipping company rescued by the South Korean government, reported that it remained profitable in the fourth quarter of 2023 despite pressure on the container market, with a net profit of about US$226 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 and about US$760 million throughout 2023.

Looking ahead, HMM commented: "interference in the Red Sea is still ongoing, while the severe drought on the Panama Canal limits daily traffic.Both of these problems have led to widespread uncertainty and market volatility."

HMM will increase the capacity of its container fleet to more than 1 million TEUs by delivering 12 new ships with 13000 TEUs in 2024.

Wanhai Lines, Evergreen Shipping and Yangming Marine