• CSAV’s net income before taxes improved by US$91.1 million compared to the final quarter of last year.

Santiago, May 17, 2024 | Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) reported positive pre-tax results of US$71.4 million, showing a significant recovery since the final quarter of last year, which closed with a pre-tax loss of US$19.7 million.

“The business had a good start to the year compared to the last quarter of 2023. Notwithstanding macroeconomic adjustments and geopolitical conflicts, the industry shows strong first-quarter growth in volumes of about 10% over the previous year. Together with the Red Sea conflict, which has forced companies to divert ships via longer routes, this growth has absorbed some of the overcapacity expected for the first quarter with the resulting effect on freight rates, which has given us a better-than-expected start to the year,” said the CEO of CSAV, Oscar Hasbún.

Meanwhile, CSAV reports a net after-tax loss of US$159.1 million for the first quarter of the year, explained by a tax expense of US$230.5 million, mainly due to EUR 820 million (gross) in dividends repatriated from Germany during the year. These funds come entirely from withholding taxes from the previous year, which have been repatriated to finance an important part of the approximately US$1.148 billion in dividends that the Company will pay its shareholders on May 24.

Hapag-Lloyd, in which CSAV has a 30% stake, reported EBITDA of US$942 million and EBIT of US$396 million for the first half of 2023, while net income reached US$325 million.

In view of this strong first-quarter performance, Hapag-Lloyd adjusted its projections for 2024, with EBITDA fluctuating between US$2.2 and US$3.3 billion and EBIT between US$0 and US$1.1 billion. This forecast is subject to how the geopolitical situation and inflationary pressures evolve.