HMM Quadruples Quarterly Operating Profit to 1.39 Trillion Won

HMM posted a third-quarter operating profit of 1.3947 trillion Korean won ($1bn equivalent), a 370% jump year-on-year and roughly four times the previous quarter's 354.1bn won, the South Korean carrier disclosed on 12 November.

The result is the company's best in two years, since the 1.4613 trillion won recorded in Q3 2024. Revenue rose 52% year-on-year to 4.1271 trillion won, while net profit climbed 405% to 1.5352 trillion won.

The standout number is margin. HMM converted 34 won of every 100 won of revenue into operating profit — 34% — against 20.6% for Maersk's shipping division, 21.6% for Japan's ONE and 28.7% for China's COSCO over the same period. That puts HMM more than five percentage points clear of its closest peer.

Where the profit came from

The container business, HMM's core segment, did the heavy lifting. Cumulative operating profit for the container division reached 1.6353 trillion won for January to September, up 55.3% from the same nine months last year.

HMM managed that despite a rough operating backdrop: route instability driven by the Middle East war, Chinese port delays after typhoons, and drought-restricted transits at the Panama Canal. The carrier says it managed routes efficiently and prioritized securing high-rate cargo — effectively trading volume for yield.

The bulk carrier business is the newer story. The division's cumulative operating profit for the first nine months hit 378.4 billion won, more than five times the 73 billion won recorded a year earlier. Bulk now accounts for 18.8% of HMM's total operating profit, up from 6.4% last year.

The shift is structural, not accidental. Since the second half of last year, HMM has cut back on short-term charters and pushed long-term contracts, trading spot upside for revenue visibility — a playbook that pays off in exactly the kind of volatile market shippers have faced through 2025.

A fleet build to hedge container cycles

HMM is not stopping there. The bulk fleet has grown from 44 vessels at the end of Q1 last year to 60 by the end of Q3 this year. With 22 ships under construction, the total will reach 82. The company is also diversifying beyond dry bulk and oil tankers into car carriers and gas carriers.

The logic is hedging: stable bulk earnings cushion the P&L if container rates fall. For shippers and forwarders, that means HMM intends to stay aggressive on capacity and contract commitments even through a container downcycle, rather than retrenching.

Nine-month consolidated figures underline the trajectory. Revenue rose 25% to 10.2478 trillion won and operating profit 76% to 2.0179 trillion won.

The 29 trillion won bet through 2030

HMM is spending to match. It invested 6 trillion won this year in fleet expansion and logistics infrastructure, and under CEO Choi Won-hyuk, who took office in March last year, cumulative investment has passed 12 trillion won.

The endpoint is a total commitment of 29 trillion won to expand the fleet to 166 container vessels and 110 bulk carriers by 2030. That nearly doubles the bulk fleet again from the 82 ships in service or on order today, and positions HMM as one of the most capital-committed carriers outside China.

For competitors, a 34%-margin HMM with a widening bulk arm changes the calculus on both container trade lanes and dry bulk contracting. For cargo owners, the bet on long-term contracts and fleet growth signals capacity reliability — and a carrier planning to compete on scale regardless of where container rates head next.