(Name of Hapag-Lloyd CEO in third paragraph, last sentence added.)

HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - Hamburg-based container shipping company Hapag-Lloyd has posted the highest pre-tax profit in its history in its 175th anniversary year, according to preliminary figures. A total of 17.5 billion euros was generated last year, the shipping company announced in Hamburg on Tuesday. The year before, earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) stood at 9.4 billion euros - up from 1.3 billion euros in 2020.

Revenue reportedly rose by more than half to 34.5 billion euros. According to Hapag-Lloyd, this was mainly due to the increase in the average freight rate from around 1850 euros per standard container (TEU) in 2021 to around 2640 euros last year. At the same time, disruptions in global supply chains and inflation caused costs to rise significantly overall, according to Hapag-Lloyd.

By the end of the year, however, freight rates had already fallen significantly again due to easing congestion and lower demand, it said. At 11.8 million TEU, transport volumes for 2022 as a whole were reportedly on par with 2021's 11.9 million TEU. Hapag-Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen plans to present final figures and an outlook for the current fiscal year on March 2.

Hapag-Lloyd - the world's fifth-largest shipping company - reportedly has 252 containerships and a total transport capacity of 1.8 million TEU. The company employs 14,500 people in 137 countries./klm/DP/mis