EUROGATE Group: Growth in Net Profits (Germany)

In fiscal 2013, the EUROGATE Group successfully navigated the challenges that continue to be characterised by a difficult market and industry environment and increased group annual net profit by 13.3% to EUR 61.9 million.

Container handling volumes once again exceeded the peak value of 14 million TEUs. With a rise of 7.3% year-on-year, the EUROGATE Group handled a total of 14.2 million TEUs. This number is a record since the foundation of the company 15 years ago.

Thomas Eckelmann, Chairman of the EUROGATE Group Management Board, said: “Our year-end results and our sound balance sheet structure encourage us to feel confident. The economic environment and the startup losses incurred as a result of the start of operations of the EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven were difficult hurdles to be overcome on the way to achieving this good result. As service providers, we are in a position to offer our customers service that meets their expectations in terms of productivity and quality at all times. The proof of this is that EUROGATE in Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven are the only terminal locations in Germany where 18,000-TEU vessels are handled.”

A highly positive volume of traffic was recorded by the EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg. The terminal is back on track for growth and increased its handling volume by 7.9%. Since mid-2013, the Zim shipping line and the feeder and short sea operator Unifeeder have consolidated their transport operations in the port of Hamburg exclusively through the EUROGATE Container Terminal Hamburg.

The development of EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven, which went into operation in September 2012, fell considerably short of expectations with a handling volume of 76,265 TEUs. However, the increasing concentration of shipping lines and the trend towards ever larger vessels will lead to the location capturing its position in the market sooner rather than later.

The P3 alliance has announced that it intends to route two container line services via Germany’s only deep-water port from the middle of this year, once the Asian antitrust authorities follow the European and US authorities in approving formation of the consortium.

Details of the future port calls have not yet been announced. For this reason, on 28 March 2014 EUROGATE and the services sector trade union ver.di concluded an employment protection contract for the workforce of EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven. This gives EUROGATE the necessary flexibility to bridge the current time of underutilisation of capacities at the terminal.

EUROGATE Container Terminal Wilhelmshaven is the only terminal on the German North Sea coast that can be accessed by mega ocean carriers at all times independent of tidal fluctuations. It also offers a congestion-free motorway link and has an intermodal rail station directly on the terminal site.

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Press Release, April 9, 2014