Hapag-Lloyd announced that the company expects that the EBIT for the current 2021 financial year as a whole will clearly surpass the prior-year level. While the positive earnings trend is likely to continue in the second quarter of 2021, a gradual normalisation is currently expected in the second half of the year. However, this forecast remains subject to considerable uncertainty due to a number of factors, including: the above-average volatility of freight rates at this time; operational challenges, such as infrastructural bottlenecks; and the inability to predict the future course or economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.