Posted on August 17, 2026
By Minhyun Sim
HMM assessed that it maintained solid profitability by recording an operating margin of 10.2% in the first half of this year. Broadening the comparison to the past three years, the trend looks different. While revenue has grown, the operating margin has fallen every year, dropping to less than half its level over three years.
According to HMM on the 14th, consolidated revenue for the first half of this year was $41.6 billion (₩61.207 trillion) and operating profit was $4.2 billion (₩623.2 billion). Revenue rose 12% from the same period a year earlier, but operating profit fell 26%. The company explained the 10.2% operating margin as solid profitability, citing fuel cost optimization in response to high oil prices, fleet operations based on a hub and spoke model, and the securing of new demand in Southeast Asia.
Calculated from quarterly reports, the first-half operating margin continued its decline, at 21.1% in 2024, 15.5% in 2025, and 10.2% this year. This year’s figure falls short of even half of 2024’s level.
Operating profit fell for three consecutive years, from $714.8 million (₩1.0514 trillion) in 2024 to $575.9 million (₩847.1 billion) last year and $423.7 million (₩623.2 billion) this year. Over the same period, revenue grew from $33.9 billion (₩49.933 trillion) to $37.2 billion (₩54.774 trillion) and $41.6 billion (₩61.207 trillion). External growth and profit scale have diverged.
Looking only at the second quarter, which the company put forward in this earnings release, the mood is different. Revenue was $23.1 billion (₩34.02 trillion) and operating profit was $2.4 billion (₩354.1 billion), up 30% and 52%, respectively, from the same period a year earlier. Second-quarter operating profit last year was $158.5 million (₩233.2 billion). While the quarter rebounded, it did not reverse the overall first-half trend.
Cost burden affected the decline in margin. The cost of revenue ratio rose 5.3 percentage points, from 74.5% in the first half of 2024 to 79.8% in the same period last year. The company explains that some revenue disruption from the Middle East war since March and high oil prices raised costs, including fuel expenses.
The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index (SCFI), a representative indicator of global container shipping rates, averaged 1,957 points in the first half of this year, 15% higher than 1,701 points in the same period a year earlier. As the peak season began early from the end of May, freight rates rebounded, partially offsetting the increased costs since the outbreak of the Middle East war.
As margins decline, investment scale is growing. HMM announced its 2026 Medium to Long-Term Strategy last month, expanding and adjusting its existing medium to long-term investment plan, and decided to deploy around $19.7 billion (₩29 trillion). The company will secure a fleet of 166 container ships totaling 1.47 million TEU and 110 bulk carriers totaling 13.52 million DWT, and deploy funds into overseas terminals and eco-friendly and digital fields.
The investment expansion stance has continued from before. HMM deployed around $6.8 billion (₩10 trillion) over the 15 months from the second quarter of last year through the first half of this year. The company’s position is that securing ships early, ahead of rising ship prices, is a strategic judgment considering the market two to three years out, separate from short-term results.
Views on second-half market conditions diverge. HMM expects market uncertainty to grow in the third quarter due to US tariff policy, congestion at the Panama Canal and major ports, and global supply chain risks from the prolonged Middle East war. At the 2026 Ocean and Fisheries Outlook Conference held earlier this year, the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) projected that container shipping volume would grow only 2.3% from the previous year, while fleet supply expands more rapidly, creating strong downward pressure on freight rates.
British shipping analysis firm Drewry projected that North American container volume, affected by US tariff policy, would fall a further 4.6% this year, following a 5.5% decline in 2025. Hana Securities placed weight on short-term improvement in HMM’s results. Ahn Do-hyun, an analyst at Hana Securities, said, “The effect of rising freight rates will be greater in the second half.” Over the long term, the firm analyzed that entry into a container ship oversupply phase is unavoidable.
A shipping industry official said, “For now, freight rates can be defended through rerouting and supply adjustments, but once supply chains normalize, excess vessel capacity could become a burden,” adding, “given that HMM is pursuing large-scale investment, whether it can maintain its current level of profitability during a freight rate downturn is important.”
