COWI achieves record-breaking operating profit

The company also strengthened its international position and is now among world market leaders in its specialist fields. A focus on knowhow and competitive prices is to ensure continual development in the coming years.

With a three-per cent increase in turnover and a result (EBIT) of DKK 200 million, 2013 proved one of the best years in the COWI Group’s history. Nine years in a row, COWI has seen turnover grow, demonstrating an increase of 32 per cent since the global financial crisis took hold in early 2009.

“Last year, we saw sound growth in our traditional core markets in Scandinavia and in our international activities, not least in North America. We also streamlined our activities, boosting our competitive strength,” explains Lars-Peter Søbye, President, CEO of the COWI Group.

One of the leading consultants in the world
The annual results demonstrate that COWI has strengthened its position among the world consultancy elite. This is reflected in top-three rankings within, e.g., marine structures, bridges, airports and waste on Engineering News-Record’s prestigious lists of the world’s leading consulting companies.

”Our strategy revolves around maintaining a strong presence in the Nordic countries and being a world leader in our select specialist fields. This entails using the knowledge and technology developed in our home markets to strengthen our position when competing for major international projects.

To this end, we need to continually and determinedly focus on strengthening our competencies and increasing our volume. With this in mind, in 2013, we acquired American tunnel experts Jenny Engineering Corporation and four small Scandinavian companies, including Vattenfall’s Danish engineering division, which made us the market leader in Scandinavia in sustainable heat and energy production,” says Søbye.

“I’m very pleased that we’re really starting to see the results of our strategy, which will characterise the next couple of years. In particular, we will focus our efforts in infrastructure, water and energy, which we expect to be future growth sectors,” he continues.

New projects secure growth in the future
Thanks to COWI’s leading position in the international market, the company landed a number of international projects in the past year. For instance, COWI is to supervise a project in St Petersburg, Russia, expand the Port of Stockholm and head work on multiple tunnels and stations for the new metro in Doha, Qatar. COWI is also tasked with designing tissue paper factories in Russia and Turkey, and is to head the design of the St Croix Bridge in Minnesota, USA. Danish projects include, e.g., light rails in Odense, Aarhus and Aalborg as well as the extension of Aabenraa Hospital.

”It goes to show that Scandinavian knowhow is still popular in the international market and that we have the competencies to compete with major, global actors. However, to win large-scale projects, we need to constantly work on optimising business processes and reducing costs to stay competitive in an extremely price-minded market. COWI has succeeded in doing just that in recent years, and I believe we will continue to grow and increase our profitability in the years to come”.