Annual Report 2023

Solid momentum - Seite 2

Fibertex Nonwovens

Fibertex Nonwovens expects an increase in business activity in 2024, in part due to an increase in production capacity in the North American market. As a result, Fibertex Nonwovens expects an increase in revenue and a substantial improvement of EBITDA in 2024.

Statement by Jens Bjerg Sørensen, President of Schouw & Co.:

“Again in 2023, Schouw & Co. broke several records, reporting the highest revenue and EBITDA in its 145-year history. Revenue increased by 14%, while EBITDA was up by no less than 25% on 2022.

This profitable growth is the direct result of the investments we have made over the past few years. We have launched new projects, initiated new activities and leveraged potential – the effects of which began to feed through in 2023. However, some of our partially completed capacity investments will not flow through to results until 2024 and the following years as they are fully integrated.

In 2023, Schouw & Co. generated a solid cash flow from operations of DKK 1.8 billion. In February, we acquired the wind division from Swedish Ymer Technology, and during the course of the year, we finalised a number of other major investments. We paid a substantial dividend to our shareholders in 2023 and launched a share buy-back programme, balancing distributions and investments to drive future progress. We also refinanced a substantial part of our debt, which has given us significant financial latitude.

Being as focused on growth and development as we are at Schouw & Co., you also need to take responsibility for your environmental footprint. We are therefore very pleased to have managed to reduce absolute carbon emissions from our companies every year since 2020, when we started recording our greenhouse gas emissions. While this year we are again issuing a separate ESG report for 2023 detailing both current efforts and goals, next year’s annual report will be different, integrating both financial and non-financial information.

Schouw & Co.’s core strategy remains unchanged. We are responsible long-term owners creating growth through transformation of market-leading industrial companies. We take a long-term approach and believe that results are created by people. We are active, patient and demanding owners.

Since 1988, when we began to diversify our ownership across various industries, we have had investments in a total of 12 companies. Today, we own six strong B2B businesses, all of which are well-invested with solid strategic platforms and the potential for sustained profitable growth. Our ownership has always been defined by a ‘best owner’ philosophy, meaning that we will continue to make attractive investments in transformation and developments for as long as possible.