Hapag-Lloyd Annual General Meeting Approves All Resolutions

The shareholders of Hapag-Lloyd AG today approved all agenda items put to vote at the ordinary virtual Annual General Meeting with the required majority. Among other things, the distribution of the balance sheet profit and thus the payment of a dividend of 3.50 euros per share was decided.

(Hamburg) “Despite the coronavirus pandemic, we achieved a record result last year and earned our cost of capital for the first time in a decade. Therefore, we are very pleased that our shareholders can once again benefit from a dividend,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd AG, adding: “At the same time, we have started the current year very well due to the still very strong demand for container transport and expect significantly increasing results for the fiscal year 2021 overall.”

The shareholders also approved the proposal to re-elect Nicola Gehrt and Karl Gernandt to the Supervisory Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG. Nicola Gehrt brings many years of experience in investor relations and financial matters as Head of Group Investor Relations of the TUI Group and has been a member of the Supervisory Board since August 2016. Karl Gernandt has extensive industry and management experience as Executive Chairman of Kühne Holding AG and has been a member of the Supervisory Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG since March 2009.

EBITDA and EBIT Significantly Above Previous Year’s Level

“I am pleased that Nicola Gehrt and Karl Gernandt have been re-elected as representatives of the shareholders to the Supervisory Board. Both are very familiar with the company, allowing us to seamlessly continue the very active and constructive collaboration of recent years,” said Michael Behrendt, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Hapag-Lloyd.

After a strong start to the year, Hapag-Lloyd expects that EBITDA and EBIT for the current fiscal year 2021 will be significantly above the previous year’s level. While the positive earnings development is likely to continue in the second quarter of 2021, a gradual normalization is currently expected in the second half of the year. Given the currently above-average volatility of freight rates, operational challenges such as infrastructural bottlenecks, and an unpredictable further course of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impacts, this forecast remains subject to significant uncertainties.

Photo: © Hapag-Lloyd