Moody's and Standard & Poor's (S&P) upgrade both Hapag-Lloyd's corporate rating and its
senior unsecured bond rating

^
DGAP-News: Hapag-Lloyd AG / Key word(s): Rating
Moody's and Standard & Poor's (S&P) upgrade both Hapag-Lloyd's corporate
rating and its senior unsecured bond rating

23.03.2021 / 13:32
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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Hamburg, 23 March 2021

Moody's and Standard & Poor's (S&P) upgrade both Hapag-Lloyd's corporate
rating and its senior unsecured bond rating

- Container shipping has performed strongly despite the pandemic

- Hapag-Lloyd with robust operating performance in the current market
environment

- Debt reduction has clearly exceeded expectations

The rating agencies Moody's Investor Service (Moody's) and Standard & Poor's
Global Rating (S&P) have today published updated credit ratings for
Hapag-Lloyd.

Moody's raised Hapag-Lloyd's credit rating by one notch, from 'Ba3' to
'Ba2'. In addition, the rating for its senior unsecured bonds improved from
'B2' to 'B1'. The ratings have been assigned a 'stable' outlook. Moody's
acknowledged that container shipping has performed very strongly despite the
pandemic. It positively highlighted Hapag-Lloyd's debt reduction in the
second half of the year, which was well above expectations. At the same
time, the rating actions also take into account Hapag-Lloyd's prudent
financial policy, which is reflected not least in its leverage ratio (net
debt to EBITDA), with a basic target of less than 3.0x and significant
improvement to 1.8x by year-end 2020.

Furthermore, S&P upgraded Hapag-Lloyd's credit rating from 'BB-' to 'BB'
with a 'stable' outlook. At the same time, the rating for its senior
unsecured bonds was raised by three notches, from 'B' to 'BB'. S&P reasoned
that Hapag-Lloyd's EBITDA performance of EUR 2.7 billion in 2020 was above
the original expectations of EUR 2.0 billion. Moreover, the rating agency
noted that Hapag-Lloyd's strong operating performance can particularly be
attributed to a significant increase in freight rates in the fourth quarter
and was also assisted by low bunker prices and successful cost-reduction
measures. It was also positively mentioned that Hapag-Lloyd has used the
strong free operating cash flow of 2020 to further reduce debt.

"We are very pleased that Moody's and S&P have once again positively
recognised our earning power as well as our progress in reducing debt and
the improvements in our balance sheet structure. With these rating upgrades,
we are also looking at the highest credit ratings that Hapag-Lloyd has
received since the research initiation of Moody's and S&P. Looking forward,
we will continue pursuing our prudent financial policy while keeping a close
eye on our costs. In addition, we will maintain our present course and
continue to rigorously implement our Strategy 2023," said Mark Frese, Chief
Financial Officer of Hapag-Lloyd AG.


About Hapag-Lloyd
With a fleet of 237 modern container ships and a total transport capacity of
1.7 million TEU, Hapag-Lloyd is one of the world's leading liner shipping
companies. The Company has around 13,100 employees and 395 offices in 129
countries. Hapag-Lloyd has a container capacity of approximately 2.7 million
TEU - including one of the largest and most modern fleets of reefer
containers. A total of 122 liner services worldwide ensure fast and reliable
connections between more than 600 ports on all the continents. Hapag-Lloyd
is one of the leading operators in the Transatlantic, Middle East, Latin
America and Intra-America trades.

Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number
of risks and uncertainties. Such statements are based on a number of
assumptions, estimates, projections or plans that are inherently subject to
significant risks, uncertainties and contingencies. Actual results can
differ materially from those anticipated in the Company's forward-looking
statements.


Contact:
Heiko Hoffmann
Senior Director Investor Relations

Hapag-Lloyd AG
Ballindamm 25
20095 Hamburg
Phone +49 40 3001-2896
Fax +49 40 3001-72896
Mobile +49 172 875-2126


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23.03.2021 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a
service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements,
Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.dgap.de

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   Language:       English
   Company:        Hapag-Lloyd AG
                   Ballindamm 25
                   20095 Hamburg
                   Germany
   Phone:          +49 (0) 40 3001 - 2896
   Fax:            +49 (0) 40 3001 - 72896
   E-mail:         ir@hlag.com
   Internet:       www.hapag-lloyd.com
   ISIN:           DE000HLAG475
   WKN:            HLAG47
   Listed:         Regulated Market in Frankfurt (Prime Standard),
                   Hamburg; Regulated Unofficial Market in Berlin,
                   Dusseldorf, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart, Tradegate
                   Exchange
   EQS News ID:    1177589



   End of News    DGAP News Service
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1177589 23.03.2021

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