SIMIC

Revenues for the six-month period reached $7.15 billion, an increase of approximately $3 billion from revenues in the first half of the last year, reports Container News.

The main reason for this significant growth is the high container freight rates, according to ZIM, which also reported first half operating income (earnings before interest and taxes, EBIT) of $4.01 billion, compared to$1.84 billion for the first six months of 2021.

The carrier reported that net income for the second quarter surged to $1.34 million. Total revenues for the quarter surged 44 per cent to $3.43 billion from $2.38 billion in the same quarter last year.

ZIM carried more than 1.7 million TEU from January until June 2022, translating to a slight decrease compared to the same period last year. However, the average freight rate per TEU was much higher in the current year at US$3,722, compared to US$2,145 for the first half of 2021.

"Over the past several weeks, we have seen a gradual decline in freight rates, including in the transpacific trades, despite continued port congestion and resilient demand, driven by macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainties," said Eli Glickman, ZIM president & CEO.

He went on to add, "Our global niche approach is centred on successfully identifying attractive growth opportunities and adjusting our fleet size dependent on changing market conditions. A prime example of this has been the growth in our car carriage activities, growing from one vessel operated two years ago to 10 car carriers operated today. We believe that this approach will continue to serve us well as the market is expected to normalise from peak levels."

Mr Glickman concluded, "Despite the backdrop of various challenges, based on our strong performance in the year to date coupled with spot and contract rates that remain highly profitable, we are reaffirming our 2022 guidance, which would mark another year of record earnings and profitability."

ZIM upgraded its previously provided guidance for the full-year 2022 and expects to generate adjusted EBITDA of between $7.8 billion and US$8.2 billion and adjusted EBIT of between US$6.3 billion and $6.7 billion.