Glossary

A

Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV)

Fully automatic, driverless transport vehicle that carries containers back and forth between the container gantry cranes on the quayside and the block storage yard at the HHLA Container Terminal Altenwerder.

Average Operating Assets

Average net non-current assets (intangible assets, property, plant and equipment, investment properties) + average net current assets (inventories + trade receivables – trade liabilities).
B

Block Storage

Automated block storage is used at the HHLA Container Terminals Altenwerder and Burchardkai to stack containers in a compact and efficient manner. These facilities consist of multiple storage blocks. Rail-Mounted Gantry Cranes are used to transport and stow the boxes.
C

ConRo-Schiff

A ship that can transport containers as well as RoRo.

Container Gantry Crane

A crane system used to load and discharge container ships. To handle ever-larger ships, the new container gantry cranes are also significantly bigger in terms of the height and length of their jibs.

Cost of Capital

Expenses that must be incurred to utilise financial resources as equity or borrowed capital.
D

DBO (Defined Benefit Obligation)

Performance-oriented pension obligations arising from the accrued and estimated pension rights of active and former members of staff as at settlement day, allowing for probable future changes in pensions and emoluments.

Derivative Financial Instruments

Financial instruments that are traditionally used to protect existing investments or obligations. Earnings from associated companies (using the equity method) Earnings of joint ventures or associated companies are included in the financial result in the profit and loss statement.

Dynamic Gearing Ratio

Commercial debt (pensions provisions + non-current and current liabilities to related parties + non-current and current financial liabilities – cash, cash equivalents and short-term deposits) / EBITDA
E

EBIT

Earnings before interest and taxes.

EBITDA

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.

EBT

Earnings before tax.

Economies of Scale

Law of economics according to which increases in production are accompanied by reductions in unit costs.

Equity Ratio

Equity / total assets
F

Feeder / Feeder Ship

Vessels that carry smaller numbers of containers to ports. Feeders are used to transport boxes from Hamburg to the Baltic region, for instance.

Financial Result

Interest income – interest expenses +/– earnings from associated companies using the equity method +/– other financial result
H

Hinterland

Describes a port’s catchment area.

Hub Terminal (Hinterland)

A Terminal which bundles and distributes consignments as a handling hub. HHLA’s rail companies operate hub terminals like this in Ceska Trebova, Dunajska Streda, Poznan and Prague.
I

IAS

International Accounting Standards

IFRS

International Financial Reporting Standards

Impairment Test

Impairment test as defined under IFRS

Intermodal / Intermodal Systems

Transportation via several modes of transport (water, rail, road) combining the specific advantages of the respective carriers.

Investments

Payments for investments in property, plant and equipment, investment property and for investments in intangible assets.
N

North Range

North European coast where in the broadest sense all large continental ports from Le Havre to Hamburg are situated. Among the four largest ports are Hamburg, Bremen ports, Rotterdam and Antwerp.
O

Operating Cash Flow (as Defined in Literature on IFRS Indicators)

EBIT – taxes + amortisation and depreciation – write-backs +/– change of non-current provisions (excl. interest portion) +/– gains / losses on the disposal of property, plant and equipment + change of working capital
R

Revenue

Sales derived from selling, letting or leasing and from services provided by the Group, less sales deductions and turnover tax.

RMG – Rail-Mounted Gantry Crane

Crane units spanning their working area like a gantry, often operating on rails, hence the abbreviation RMG. If used in Block Storage, they are also called storage cranes, and in rail cargo handling they are called rail gantry cranes.

ROCE (Return On Capital Employed)

EBIT / average operating assets

RoRo

Short for “roll on, roll off”, RoRo is a means of loading cargo which can simply be rolled or driven onto or off a ship.
S

Shuttle Train

A train which travels back and forth on one route with the same arrangement of wagons, eliminating the need for time-consuming shunting. HHLA’s rail subsidiaries operate shuttle trains between the seaports and the Hub Terminals (Hinterland).

Spreader

Weighing several tonnes, the spreader is the part of a Container Gantry Crane or other crane used to grip and then lift or lower containers.

Standard Container

A TEU is a 20-foot standard container, used as a unit for measuring container volumes. A 20-foot standard container is 6.06 metres long, 2.44 metres wide and 2.59 metres high.

Straddle Carrier

A long-legged vehicle used to transport containers at the terminals. The driver manoeuvres their straddle carrier into position above a container and lifts it up. The vehicles can stack containers up to four high.
T

Tandem Gantry Crane

A highly efficient Container Gantry Crane capable of discharging or loading two 40-foot containers or four 20-foot containers in a single movement. HHLA uses tandem gantry cranes at the Container Terminal Burchardkai.

Terminal

In maritime logistics, a terminal is a facility where freight transported by various modes of transport is handled.

TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit)

A TEU is a 20-foot standard container, used as a unit for measuring container volumes. A 20-foot standard container is 6.06 metres long, 2.44 metres wide and 2.59 metres high.

Traction

The action of a locomotive pulling a train.

Transport Performance

Performance indicator in rail traffic, which results from the product of the transported cargo volume and total distance travelled.
U

Ultra Large Vessel (ULV)

A mega-ship which is at least 330 metres long and/or 45 metres wide. This type of vessel is increasingly being used on routes between the Far East and Northern Europe in particular.
V

Value Added

Value added is calculated on the basis of the value of production less input (costs of materials, depreciation, other operating expenses). Value added is distributed to different interest groups in HHLA, such as employees, shareholders, partners, lenders or the state. IAS