ZIM reported net income of $64 million for the second quarter of 2026, up from $24 million a year earlier, as strong demand on the Transpacific trade lifted freight rates and volumes.
Diluted earnings per share came in at $0.53, compared with $0.19 in the second quarter of 2025. Adjusted net income rose to $77 million, while Adjusted EBITDA reached $491 million, up 4 per cent year-on-year (YoY).
Revenues for the quarter totalled $1.78 billion, up 9 per cent, driven by higher freight rates and carried volume.
ZIM carried 922,000 TEUs during the quarter, up 3 per cent year-on-year, at an average freight rate of $1,590 per TEU, an 8 per cent increase. The company generated free cash flow of $386 million during the quarter.
Net leverage stood at 1.6x as of 30 June 2026, up from 1.3x at the end of 2025, with net debt of $2.77 billion, down slightly from $2.93 billion at the end of the first quarter.
Chen Lichtenstein, ZIM President & CEO, said: “Since assuming my role in July, my focus has been clear: to capitalise fully on current market opportunities while deploying the Company’s resources with discipline and efficiency. We remain committed to preserving the agility that allows us to respond quickly to changing market conditions, strengthening our competitiveness, and creating sustainable value.”
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Sami Jubran, Chief Financial Officer, added: “We delivered solid results in the second quarter and expect significantly stronger performance during the remainder of the year, as reflected in our guidance. This anticipated improvement would enable our Board of Directors to consider declaring a dividend to shareholders based on our third-quarter results.”
For the first half of 2026, however, the picture was weaker. Revenues fell to $3.18 billion, down from $3.64 billion in the first half of 2025, as freight rates and volumes softened earlier in the year.
The company posted a net loss of $22 million for the six-month period, against net income of $320 million a year earlier.
ZIM currently operates 115 containerships with a combined capacity of 707,000 TEUs, alongside 13 car carriers.
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The fleet is set to expand through charter agreements covering around 286,000 TEUs of largely newbuild capacity, including ten 11,500 TEU dual-fuel LNG vessels due for delivery between 2027 and 2028.
For the full year, ZIM expects Adjusted EBITDA of between $2.0 billion and $2.4 billion and Adjusted EBIT of between $700 million and $1.1 billion, with dividends to shareholders anticipated in line with its existing policy, subject to board discretion and restrictions under its pending merger agreement with Hapag-Lloyd.
The merger, announced in February 2026, will see Hapag-Lloyd acquire ZIM for $35.00 per share in cash, a deal approved by shareholders in April and targeted to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals including Israel’s Golden Share requirement.
For more information:
ZIM – https://www.zim.com/
