HHLA to Distribute € 31.5 Million to Shareholders for the 2013 Financial Year

20 Jun 2014 08:55

The Annual General Meeting of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) resolved to pay out a results-orientated dividend of € 0.45 per dividend-entitled Class A share for the Port Logistics subgroup. With this decision, HHLA is upholding its policy of maintaining a constantly high dividend payout ratio. 99.9 % of shareholders endorsed the proposal made by the Executive Board and Supervisory Board. The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg will benefit from a distribution of € 24.9 million (including Class S shares). HHLA paid out € 0.65 per Class A share in 2012. This included a one-off gain of approx. € 0.25 per Class A share.

In his speech, Klaus-Dieter Peters, Chairman of HHLA’s Executive Board, emphasised: “We continued to expand our market position in both container handling and container transport again last year. In view of the challenging economic and infrastructural environment, that is a considerable achievement. The company’s performance is our reward for determinedly enhancing our mega-ship handling capacity and quality, and for consistently pursuing our intermodal strategy. At the same time, we took some major steps towards shaping the company’s future. I am pleased to say that we once again generated a high level of earnings by industry standards, which enabled us to reduce our net debt.”

Following the shareholders’ resolution, a dividend of € 0.45 per dividend-entitled Class A share will be distributed for the Port Logistics subgroup for the 2013 financial year. This puts the dividend € 0.20 below that of the previous year. In 2012, the total dividend payout included a one-off gain from the sale of Transfracht shares, which added around € 0.25 to the dividend for 2012. The dividend payout ratio is equivalent to 65.3 % of the Port Logistics subgroup’s net profit for the year after minority interests. It is therefore at the upper end of the 50–70 % range set for the payout ratio, which forms the cornerstone of HHLA’s long-term dividend policy. As a result, HHLA is distributing a total of € 31.5 million to holders of its dividend-entitled Class A shares.

The Annual General Meeting also approved a proposal to pay € 1.25 per Class S share for the unlisted Real Estate subgroup – a total of € 3.4 million and thus 4.2 % more than in the previous year. All of the Class S shares are held by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

The Annual General Meeting approved all of the other proposals made by the Supervisory Board and Executive Board with majorities of more than 99 %.

More than 800 shareholders and guests attended the Annual General Meeting of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) on 19 June 2014 at CCH Congress Center Hamburg. This represented 82.3 % of the share capital (previous year: 81 %).

The voting results of the Annual General Meeting, the speech by the Chairman of the Executive Board, Klaus-Dieter Peters, and the accompanying presentation are available on the HHLA website in the Investor Relations section under Annual General Meeting (www.hhla.de/en/investor-relations/ann-general-meeting).

About HHLA

Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) is a leading port logistics group in Europe. With its Container, Intermodal and Logis¬tics segments, HHLA is positioned vertically along the transport chain. Efficient container terminals, high-capacity transport systems and a full range of logistics services form a complete network between the overseas port and its European hinterland.

 

Further inquiries:

Florian Marten, Head of Corporate Communications
Phone +49-(0)40-3088-3503
Karl Olaf Petters, Spokesman
Phone +49-(0)40-3088-3521

Hauptversammlung der HHLA am 19. Juni 2014