German carrier Hapag-Lloyd celebrated its 175th anniversary with an EBITDA of $20.5 billion (€19.4 billion) for the year ended 2022, an increase of 60 percent, on higher freight rates.

Revenues increased 38 percent to $36.4 billion (€34.5 billion) on increase in average freight rate to $2,863/TEU (2021: $2,003/TEU), says an official release.

"However, already by the end of the year, the freight rate had significantly come back down as congestion eased and demand declined. Transport volumes for 2022 were roughly on a par with the prior-year level at 11.8 million TEUs (2021: 11.9 million TEUs)." Disruptions in global supply chains and inflation have led to a significant increase in costs, the release said.

Fourth quarter revenue dropped to $8 billion and EBITDA declined to $3.8 billion on flat volumes of 2.9 million TEUs. Freight rate was marginally higher at $2,625/TEU compared to $2,577/TEU in Q42021.

Hapag-Lloyd will publish its 2022 annual report with the audited financial figures and an outlook for the current financial year during a virtual press briefing on March 2, 2023.