DSV, 581 - 2014 Annual Report

Company Announcement No. 581

“2014 was a good year for DSV in many respects. We grew with our customers – existing as well as new – and we gained market share in all business areas. Not least, we delivered results in line with the expectations announced at the beginning of the year. The Air & Sea Division was the main contributor to the growth in earnings, whereas the Road Division was affected by the ever present intense competition in our industry. We have a promising outlook for 2015; the investments we have made over the past couple of years to increase our productivity give us a solid basis for harvesting the best results from global market growth,” says Jens Bjørn Andersen, CEO.

Selected financial highlights for the 2014 financial statements (1 January - 31 December 2014)

Q4 2014 results

For Q4 2014 net revenue amounted to DKK 12,539 million against DKK 11,857 million for Q4 2013, corresponding to revenue growth of 5.8%. The increase was attributable to the Air & Sea Division in all essentials. All Divisions reported freight volume growth above the market in Q4 and delivered 8% growth in air freight, 7% in sea freight, 5% growth in Road consignments and 7% growth in order lines.

Gross profit was up by 3.5% at DKK 2,615 million for Q4 2014 against DKK 2,526 million for the same period of 2013. Air & Sea landed organic growth of 3.5% and was affected by declining gross profit per tonne air freight and other factors. Road delivered organic gross profit growth of 0.8% and was still affected by the overall price pressure in the market. Solutions recorded organic gross profit growth of 7.9%, partly owing to increased activity levels.   

Operating profit before special items was DKK 649 million for the period against DKK 672 million for Q4 2013 and thus lower than the first three quarters of the year. The decline was mainly attributable to the stagnating gross profit of the Road Division. Air & Sea and Solutions both reported growth in operating profit for Q4 2014 on the same period of 2013.   

Share buyback

A separate company announcement about the launch of a share buyback programme of DKK 200 million will be issued today.

Dividend

Based on the financial results for the year the Board of Directors proposes ordinary dividends of DKK 1.60 per share for 2014 (2013: DKK 1.50 per share). 

Outlook for 2015

• Gross profit is expected to be in the range of DKK 10,500-10,900 million
• Operating profit before special items is expected to be in the range of DKK 2,700-2,900 million
• Net financial expenses are expected to approximate DKK 300 million
• The effective tax rate of the Group is expected to be close to 25%
• The free cash flow, before any acquisition or disposal of entities, is expected to approximate DKK 2,000 million

Investor teleconference
DSV will host an investor teleconference on 6 February 2015 at 10.00 a.m. CET. Reference is made to Company Announcement No. 579 for further details.

Inquiries relating to the Annual Report

Questions may be addressed to:

• Jens Bjørn Andersen, CEO, tel. +45 43 20 30 40
• Jens H. Lund, CFO, tel. +45 43 20 30 40
• Flemming Ole Nielsen, Director Investor Relations, tel. +45 43 20 33 92 or by email to investor@dsv.com

This announcement has been forwarded to Nasdaq Copenhagen and to the press. It is also available at www.dsv.com. The announcement has been prepared in Danish and in English. In the event of discrepancies, the Danish version shall apply.

Yours sincerely,
DSV A/S