ZIM reports staggering year; logs net profit $2.15bn | Container news

Israeli container liner company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (ZIM) reported revenues for the fourth quarter of $2.17bn, a year-over-year increase of 80%. The company’s revenues for the full year were $8.43bn, a year-over-year increase of 63%.

ZIM said the total revenues of $2.17bn for the fourth quarter of 2024, compared to $1.21bn for the fourth quarter of 2023, were mainly driven by the increase in freight rates and carried volume.

For the year, the company reported net profit of $2.15bn compared to a loss of $2.69bn for the full year of 2023.

The company’s net income for the fourth quarter stood at $563m, compared to a net loss of $147m in the same period of 2023.

ZIM’s adjusted Ebitda for the fourth quarter was $967m, a year-over-year increase of 409%; Adjusted Ebitda for the full year was $3.69bn, a year-over-year increase of 252%.

Futhermore, the adjusted Ebit for the fourth quarter was $658m, compared to loss of $49m in the fourth quarter of 2023. ZIM’s adjusted Ebit for the full year of 2024 was $2.55bn, compared to loss of $422m for the full year of 2023.

Eli Glickman, ZIM president and CEO, attributed the company’s performance in 2024 to record carried volume and exceptional profitability.

Meanwhile, the company’s chief executive said trade conditions in the Red Sea will not normalize until the second half of the year at the earliest.

“Based on our continued progress upscaling our capacity and optimizing our cost structure, we reported our best results ever, excluding the extraordinary COVID period. Consistent with our commitment to returning capital to shareholders, the dividend declared today, together with the dividends distributed during 2024, total $7.98 per share, or $961 million, representing approximately 45% of our full year net income.”

Glickman added, “The benefits of our fleet transformation were evident throughout 2024 and reflected in our strong financial results, as well as volume growth that far outpaced the overall market. With larger vessels well-poised to meet emissions reduction targets and tailored to the trades in which we operate, we increased carried volumes 14% year-over-year, compared to average market growth of approximately 6%, while delivering superior margins. Driving our market share gains was the new capacity deployed on the Asia to U.S. East Coast trade, the successful expedited services to the U.S. West Coast, and our expanded presence in Latin America.”

“We enter 2025 with a more resilient business and modern cost- and fuel-efficient capacity, 40% of which is LNG-fueled. While acknowledging that our industry is highly volatile, exacerbated by current uncertainty related to geopolitics, international political dynamics and economic, fiscal and monetary policies, we are confident in our agile approach and competitive position in the industry. Our 2025 outlook of Adjusted EBITDA between $1.6 billion and $2.2 billion and Adjusted EBIT between $350 million and $950 million assumes trade conditions in the Red Sea will not normalize until the second half of the year at the earliest,” Glickman concluded.