DFDS — Earnings Release 2014

Aug 21, 2014

Copenhagen, 2014-08-21 07:48 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Announcement no. 58

• Revenue growth of 8% driven by organic growth and acquisitions
• EBITDA increase of 31% to DKK 403m
• Profit before tax and special items up by 143% to DKK 231m
• Improved results in North Sea, Channel and Logistics Division
• Baltic Sea impacted by conflict between Russia and Ukraine
• Increased distribution of DKK 200m to shareholders through new share buy-back
• Upgrade of outlook for full-year EBITDA to DKK 1.30–1.45bn (DKK 1.25-1.40bn)

In Q2, DFDS increased revenue by 8% to DKK 3,306m (DKK 3,051m) and operating
profit before depreciation (EBITDA) and special items by 31% to DKK 403m (DKK
307m).

The results for DFDS’ North Sea and Channel freight activities continued to
grow in Q2. The passenger activities in all areas of the route network
benefited from Easter traffic. The result for the logistics services was
improved by revenue growth and acquisitions.

“The quarterly result was again somewhat ahead of our expectations, and July,
the first month of our Q3 high season, was also slightly above expectations. We
expect our North European shipping and logistics services to continue to grow
moderately, whereas the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is adversely
impacting certain routes in our Baltic Sea network,” says CEO Niels Smedegaard.

“To enhance DFDS’ performance, we are pursuing topline growth through customer
focus initiatives and achieved a satisfactory 5% organic growth in our
logistics ser-vices. On cost efficiency, we continue to focus on a range of
improvement and effi-ciency projects. Given performance in the first half-year
we are now more firm on our outlook and have therefore raised the full-year
EBITDA range by DKK 50m to between DKK 1.30bn and 1.45bn,” says CEO Niels
Smedegaard.

A new share buy-back programme of DKK 200m is planned to be launched after the
expected completion of the current programme at the beginning of September
2014. The programme’s purpose is to distribute excess cash funds to
shareholders in accord-ance with DFDS’ capital and distribution policy. See
also separate announcement on the new share buy-back.

DFDS Key figures Q2 2014 Q2 2013 Change, % Change
DKK million
Revenue 3,306 3,051 8 255
EBITDA before special items 403 307 31 96
EBIT before special items 237 123 93 114
Profit before tax and special items 231 95 143 136
Special items, net -14 -2 n.a. -12
Profit before tax 217 93 133 124

Contacts:
Niels Smedegaard, CEO
+45 33 42 34 00

Torben Carlsen, CFO
+45 33 42 32 01

Søren Brøndholt Nielsen, IR
+45 33 42 33 59