Hapag-Lloyd reports a 2025 slight revenue decline of 1.8 percent, projects a difficult 2026 

Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd recently published its annual results for 2025, reporting a slight 1.8 percent revenue dip and profits totaling one billion. 

The German liner also reported a 28 percent drop in EBITDA, down from 5 billion in 2024 to 3.6 billion. The group’s EBIT also suffered a considerable decline of 62 percent, falling from 2.8 billion the previous year to 1.1 billion. 

In a press release accompanying the report, Hapag-Lloyd labeled last year’s results as solid and noted that they were at the upper end of the earnings forecast, attributing losses to lower freight rates and higher operational costs.

“We have grown our volumes and outperformed the market,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd AG. 

In the Liner Shipping segment, revenue increased 1.7 percent to 20.6 billion, while EBITDA declined 29 percent to 3.5 billion, and EBIT decreased 63 percent to one billion. 

While Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk’s Gemini network helped raise transport volumes by eight percent to 13.5 million TEU, the average freight rate was down eight percent to $1,376 per TEU. 

The company said the decrease was due to growing capacity and growing trade imbalances, but also attributed the slower financial performance to operational disruptions caused by new tariff policies, ongoing security tensions in the Red Sea, start-up expenses for the Gemini Network, and port congestion. 

All these events, Hapag-Lloyd said, led to higher costs and had a direct negative impact on earnings in 2025. 

Hapag-Lloyd forecasts a challenging 2026

The company celebrated its Gemini network initiative, which it said generated savings in the second half of 2025 that will be fully realized in 2026. 

However, the good news is not enough to offset the highly volatile shipping environment this year, which promises to further raise costs and negatively affect volumes across all routes.

“At the beginning of 2026, adverse weather conditions weighed on our performance, and the conflict in the Middle East is now causing considerable network disruptions and sharply increasing operational costs,” Jansen added. “Against this backdrop, we expect earnings in 2026 to be lower than in 2025.”

The executive said the company is prepared to leverage the Gemini network's advantages and accelerate cost-saving initiatives to counter this adverse scenario. He also assured customers that the company will strive to maintain supply chains intact.

*All images courtesy of Hapag-Lloyd.

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