2015 was another year of growth for COWI. A solid order book, a healthy business foundation and the launch of a new strategy lead to COWI expecting growth in both turnover and earnings in the future years.
In 2015, COWI delivered a turnover of DKK 5,577 million, which represents an increase of five percent compared to 2014. COWI’s operating profit (EBIT) amounted to DKK 182 million.
“For the 11th year running, we achieved a solid growth in turnover, whereas our operating profit did not meet the same level as in 2014. It’s our clear expectation that we will see a high growth in turnover in the years to come as well as a significant increase in profit,” says President, CEO, Lars-Peter Søbye, who bases his expectations on a well consolidated business, a solid order book and not least COWI’s new growth strategy.
Growth driven by world-class competencies
The core notion of COWI’s new strategy is that growth must be generated by the company’s core competencies in infrastructure, in particular, but also in energy, buildings, water and environment.
“In a fiercely competitive global market where projects constantly grow in size and complexity, only the financially capable companies with the strongest competencies will make it. Consequently, we’re fully committed to further developing the core competencies that we’ve built in our Scandinavian home market – while using these as leverage to expand our business internationally.”
“Our greatest successes in the past couple of years have been within the areas where we’re at the very forefront. Infrastructure in particular, where we in 2015 landed the majority of the design work for the East Link project, which involves expanding the railway line between Stockholm and Gothenburg to accommodate high-speed trains, as well as the design of a brand new city district in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Both projects have a budget of hundreds of millions of Danish kroner, and will keep several hundreds of our employees busy for years to come,” says Søbye, and continues: “Our unrelenting focus on retaining and developing world-class competencies also meant that we again in 2015 ranked among the top consultants in our global services – bridges, marine structures and waste management – on the Engineering News Record’s prestigious lists of the world’s leading consulting companies.”
New major projects in 2015
In addition to the East Link and the Mecca projects, COWI won several other major projects in 2015, e.g.:
In Denmark, COWI was awarded the task of studying potential alignments for the future high-speed railway line between Hovedgaard and Hasselager, and the modification of Aarhus railway station to prepare for the electrification of the Danish railway network. Furthermore, COWI was chosen as consultant to develop district-heating and waste-management provider AffaldVarme Aarhus’s new, groundbreaking district heating system, which harvests energy in seawater and by means of large, electric heating pumps supplies green heat to households. COWI also assisted Greater Copenhagen Utility (HOFOR) with site management and specialist consultancy on climate proofing regarding the construction of two cloudburst-mitigation tunnels in Copenhagen.