Dr. Oetker companies doing well

Hamburg Sud is part of the Dr. Oetker group of companies, which is a family owned company.

This from Tradewinds

Dr August Oetker Oetker does not release information about its bottom line result but company chief Dr August Oetker said the year had been “pleasantly” profitable.

Shipping mainly under the Hamburg Sud flag is the biggest activity of the Oetker group and more than twice as big as its high profile food or drinks businesses.

Hamburg Sud increased its cargo volume by 25% to 2.7m teu through 2008.

Oetker said the performance was well above the industry average and described the result as “satisfactory.”

Turnover increased to EUR 4.5bn from EUR 3.6bn with 84% attributable to the liner division and 16% to tramp operations.

Hamburg Sud, which includes the Brazilian shipping company, Alianca, operated an average of 167 vessels through 2008 of which 32 were owned.

The 113 containerships had a combined slot capacity of 292,000-teu up 32% on the previous year. Some 54 vessels were operated on tramp services, focussed on panamax and supramax bulkers, although there are also product carriers in the fleet.

Oetker says the current year has not got off to anywhere near as vigorous a start as 2008 with all group companies trading below their target turnover.

What they don't mention is much of the increase has been due to aquisitions, but I am not sure how much.