Shares of Hapag-Lloyd rose into positive territory on Monday following the container shipping group's release of preliminary 2025 results, which showed EBIT of $1.1 billion for the year. Before the announcement, the stock had been trading lower, down nearly 3%.
The company reported that its full-year earnings before interest and taxes reached the top of the guidance range it had previously provided - $600 million to $1.1 billion. While the figure met management's guidance ceiling, it remains substantially below Hapag-Lloyd's 2024 EBIT of $2.8 billion.
Hapag-Lloyd identified two primary dynamics that shaped the year's financial outcome. Transport volumes increased by 8% year-on-year, but this gain was offset by an 8% decline in average freight rates over the same period. Management also flagged higher operating costs as a headwind, including expenses tied to rerouting vessels around the Cape of Good Hope and initial costs associated with the Gemini Network collaboration with Maersk.
The company noted that cost reductions stemming from the Gemini partnership began to materialize in the second half of 2025, with an expectation that those savings will be fully realized in 2026. In addition, Hapag-Lloyd disclosed that certain one-time, non-cash effects in the fourth quarter contributed to boosting the year's reported profit figures.
Hapag-Lloyd said it will publish detailed financial statements and offer an outlook for the current year on March 26, when investors and analysts will be able to review the full set of numbers and management commentary.
Context and implications
The preliminary results underline the tension between volume growth and rate pressure in the container shipping market during 2025. The combination of increased transport activity and weaker average freight rates, together with specific cost pressures, produced a year in which earnings matched internal guidance but declined meaningfully from the prior year.
Investors received the news positively in the immediate term, pushing the shares back into the green after earlier weakness, while the company prepares to provide more detailed metrics and outlook guidance later this month.