DSD has three main initiatives: Tourism, public transport and shipping. Everyone has been in trouble during the corona pandemic. But the sale of three oil tankers means that Yuhong Hermansen can register NOK 31.4 million plus.
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– In terms of results, 2021 was also a year marked by the pandemic. Despite a diversified portfolio, Covid-19 has been extra demanding for DSD as the pandemic has weighed on all the group’s three largest business areas, says group leader in DSD, Ingvald Løyning, to Aftenbladet / E24.
63 million in minus without sale
The brand new annual accounts show that the traditional Stavanger company was able to book NOK 31.4 million in profit before tax last year – against minus NOK 352.6 million in 2020. Last year’s turnover was just over NOK 4 billion against NOK 4.325 billion in 2020.
But had it not been for the sale of the three oil tankers Stavanger Eagle in March, Stavanger Bliss in May and Stavanger Blossom in June, the result last year would have ended with around NOK 63 million in the red.
– The sale of the three ships gave us an extraordinary contribution to profit before tax of NOK 94 million, says Løyning.
–Korona-smell for Tide
The bus company Tide is the largest company in DSD’s portfolio. It was, of course, another demanding year last year with the authorities’ advice against using public transport for large parts of the year.
– The pandemic’s travel restrictions and capacity constraints, combined with ever new waves of infection, meant that Tide’s activities in the tour, airport and express bus were particularly affected by weakened tourism and lower activity levels. In addition, increased diesel and energy prices, as well as high sickness absence, have been among Tide’s challenges, says Løyning.
Lofoten company is doing well
Also for DSD Shipping, the market last year was demanding with low rates, and within tourism the Go Fjords Group experienced sales failure – especially towards the foreign market.
– On the other hand, the subsidiary XXLofoten has had a very good year. The reason is a strong market for activities and experiences for Norwegians on Norwegian holidays, says Løyning, who believes that DSD has succeeded in achieving several of the group’s ambitions within sustainability.
–– We are particularly pleased to have had more women on the board and management. And within the climate initiative, we have through Tide contributed to investing in more electric zero-emission buses. All tenders won in Denmark last year consist of a bus fleet that is 100 percent electric.
In the autumn of 2019, DSD decided to adjust the company’s strategic direction. Today, the group focuses on innovative companies in the mobility, ocean, tourism and health sectors. As a result, DSD invested in a total of three new companies last year; Swipload (digital transport broker company), KVS Technologies (drone and geodata company) and Tidewave R&D (health technology company).
1.8 billion in equity
So what about the future prospects for DSD? Yes, the war in Ukraine has, as is well known, led to higher energy prices, which has a strong effect on the bus company Tide. At the same time, rates in international shipping have risen.
– We expect that the current year will also be demanding in terms of results – especially for Tide. But DSD is financially strong in supporting investments and looks forward to further developing the current portfolio of companies and making new investments during the year, says Løyning – knowing that the DSD Group has almost NOK 1.8 billion in equity .
Yuhong Hermansen owns DSD 100 percent through the company Folke Hermansen AS. Hermansen is considered to be one of Norway’s richest women with a fortune of around 4.1 billion kroner. With that, she is number 89 on Kapital’s list of the 400 richest in the country.
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