The shareholders of German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd AG approved with the required majority all items on the agenda put to the vote at the Annual General Meeting today (30 April).
This included the appropriation of the net profit and thereby the payment of a dividend of €9.25 per share.
“We achieved the third-best Group profit in the history of our company and, on the whole, we can look back on a very successful 2023. For this reason, our shareholders will benefit from a dividend again. What’s more, we have made considerable strategic progress by improving our service quality, expanding our terminal activities, and further modernising our vessel and container fleets,” said Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO of Hapag-Lloyd.
Jansen added, “With our new Strategy 2030, we have also set our course for the coming years. We will now vigorously pursue this strategy while keeping in mind our ambitious sustainability goals and our aim to be the ‘undisputed number one for quality’ for our customers.”
The shareholders also approved the proposal of the Supervisory Board to re-elect Michael Behrendt to the Supervisory Board as a shareholder representative. Following the Annual General Meeting, Behrendt was also re-elected by his fellow Supervisory Board members to remain its chairman. Michael Behrendt has been the chairman of the Supervisory Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG since 2014.
“I am very pleased with the election result and the trust that our shareholders have in me. With continuity on the Supervisory Board, we will seamlessly maintain the trust-based cooperation of recent years and continue to provide constructive support to the Executive Board,” stated Michael Behrendt.
The Hamburg-based ocean carrier expects the Group EBITDA to be in the range of US$1.1 to 3.3 billion and the Group EBIT to be in the range of US$ minus 1.1 to 1.1 billion. “However, this forecast remains subject to considerable uncertainty given the very volatile freight rates and major geopolitical challenges,” pointed out the company.
