Germany’s Tui has strengthened its chances of achieving a good price for Hapag-Lloyd after the container shipping business announced the average price it received for shipping a container was 30 per cent up in the first half over last year, reports The Financial Times.

The strong performance helped the container shipping division report underlying first-half pre-tax profits of €133m (US$196.7m) against a €31m loss last year, the paper said.

The holding-up of Hapag-Lloyd’s prices in the current difficult economic climate is likely to underline the argument Tui has made to potential purchasers that the business is unusually strong and resilient to economic shocks, reports The Financial Times.

Tui is reportedly holding talks with two potential buyers for Hapag-Lloyd – Singapore’s Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) and a group of Hamburg-based businessmen.

NOL last week announced second-quarter profits sharply down on last year’s.

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