CEO Remi Eriksen

Meet Group CEO and President Remi Eriksen

As the CEO of DNV, I would like to share some reflections on 2020 and the start of 2021. Although the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, we started this year from a position of strength, building on our very strong performance in 2020. And 2021 is proving to be a very exciting and important year for our company and society at large.

Remi Eriksen enjoying life at sea.

ANNUAL REPORT 2020

We published our Annual Report for 2020 in April. The Annual Report tells the story of DNV in 2020 – something that I personally am proud to share publicly. In 2020 DNV employees dared to rethink customer relationships and how we deliver services, we shared encouragement and frustrations in working from home, and we showed great care for our colleagues, families, and wider communities. Even though 2020 was a tough year for businesses, our company’s strong financial result is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all of you around the world.

The Annual Report is not just about our financial performance; it is a comprehensive publication that contains lots of useful information about DNV that customers often ask for in bid processes or supplier qualification surveys – such as our approach to data security, how we benchmark our health and safety performance, and details on diversity.

In the annual report you will also find DNV’s sustainability performance. It details DNV’s carbon footprint, our usage of renewable electricity, and how we aim to reduce energy consumption. You will also find examples of how our projects with customers contribute to their sustainability performance.

ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

In 2020, DNV recorded revenue of almost NOK 20 billion in 2020, which was very close to the target for the year. The EBITA margin was 11.9%, which is better than target. And cash flow from operations was especially noteworthy at 185% of target. This strong result activated the profit share scheme. As a result of this, we have paid out NOK 546 million of our earnings to employees in profit share.

This outstanding performance in an historically difficult year shows the strength and resilience of you and our company. It indicates that our strategy to 2020, to create a more digital, agile and efficient company, put us on the right path to manage even extraordinary times.

In 2021, the revenue development for the first three months has been good. We recorded a revenue of NOK 5.3 billion, which is 4% better than the first quarter of last year, and 10% better than target. It is good to see that all BAs are growing year-on-year, and that our order intake is strong too. Earnings were also good. EBITA was NOK 445 million, which is well above last year and well above target. In addition, our cash flow from operations has improved as we continue to reduce our accounts receivable and work-in-progress.

The success we had in 2020 and now into the first quarter builds on all of the good work we have done over the past few years to develop our company and make it robust. I am proud to see that we are off to a good start with our strategy: “Growing in the decade of transformations – enabled by exceptional people.”

STRATEGY

We launched the new DNV Strategy that will guide us through to 2025 at the Senior Management Council (SMC) meeting on the 13th of January. It is a customer centric strategy, with ambitious goals.

According to the Strategy Ambassadors, the response to the strategy has been positive. The focus on ‘exceptional people’ and the imperative for individual development and growth are welcomed. Employees are also excited about the attention to the energy transition and decarbonization for our customers. In addition, employees are inspired by the more explicit focus on sustainability – both internally and externally – and on particular SDGs. The ambitious growth targets and focus on customer centricity in the strategy are also considered exciting. At the same time, there are some concerns about the growth targets being too much of a reach, including the amount of resources required for inorganic growth. There is also a need for more clarification about how we will bring our people along in the new strategy, how we will execute the new ‘hero role’ for key account managers (KAMs), and how we can improve cross-BA collaboration.

CUSTOMER CENTRICITY

One of the top-level goals in our 2025 Strategy is to enable our customers’ aspirations through superior customer experience. Customer centricity has been a central element also in the previous strategy – so how can we become even more customer centric?

The first is to create more connecting points into our customers’ organization. By this I mean to not only focus on the contacts that we know already, but to broaden the relationship through more contacts within our customers’ organization. And, of course developing relationships with people in companies that are not customers of DNV today. This means meeting with new people, and also connecting with the networks that other DNV colleagues have.

Second, I would like customer facing people to be able to talk about broader topics and not only their own section’s or department’s area of expertise. This will lead to richer conversations with customers, and more opportunities for DNV. So, I expect you to read up on topics and expand the conversation – and bring in expert colleagues to deepen the conversation when appropriate.

I am proud to see that we are off to a good start with our strategy: “Growing in the decade of transformations – enabled by exceptional people.”

The pandemic has been very challenging. However, it has brought with is some positives, too – more time. I have had much more time with my wife and children, more time for my favourite activity, cross-country skiing, and more time at sea in my boat. The pictures should need no explanation.

Third, we need to step up the sharing of customer information within DNV. Our CRM – or customer relationship management tools play an important role in enabling this, and we will be making a step change with the rollout of Salesforce. But it is also about our attitudes and behaviours – including what kind of information we enter into the tools and how we use them. By sharing information and working together, I am confident that we can increase our business with customers – and through that see growth and a greater impact.

Let me share an example of a customer relationship developed over decades with BW, the leading global maritime company – which has turned into significant business volume for our company over the years – and which has recently put us in a position where we were invited to form an important industry wide collaboration initiative. The Foundation Det Norske Veritas has teamed up with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore and five other industry leaders to establish a maritime decarbonization centre in Singapore.

Not only will our Maritime business area benefit in many ways, but our Energy Systems business area will also benefit from initiatives related to ports and other shore-based infrastructure, fuel and power suppliers, grid operators and authorities – which supports our positioning, access to customers, and the further growth of our services in a very important region. This is only one example among many, where we have taken customer centricity to the next level.

NAME CHANGE TO DNV

With the launch of the new strategy, we also announced a change of our company’s brand name. The reason for changing our name is to simplify. Five consonants in a row is not an easy name to pronounce – and consistency in how the name was spelled by our customers and other stakeholders was not there.

I understand that some colleagues find the change of our company name to be sensitive or difficult. I want to emphasize that we are making this change to take our company forward – not to go back. We would never have been as successful as we are today if it had not been for all legacy organizations that make up our company today – a company with highly skilled people. As we move forward, we unite under the name DNV.

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

An important part of our 2025 strategy is to strengthen our approach to diversity and inclusion (D&I). I believe this will make a difference in our business thinking, our relationships with our customers, and our overall success as a company. We will have an inclusive process for establishing our D&I ambitions and for designing plans to meet them.

As a first step, a random selection of 2000 DNV employees has been invited to share their perspectives and opinions on diversity and inclusion. This survey will be followed by a series of virtual workshops around the world.

CODE OF CONDUCT

We published an updated Code of Conduct in April. Following our new strategy, we took a fresh view to create a Code of Conduct that reflects who we are as a company and at the same time is best practice in terms of how it is presented.

Our Code of Conduct defines what is expected of each of us to ensure that we always operate according to the highest ethical standards and in line with DNV’s Values. In addition, last year we launched our new vision of being a trusted voice to tackle global transformations. DNV’s business is built on trust, and every one of us has a role in protecting this trusted position we have built over more than 150 years. What we do when faced with difficult decisions defines who we are as a company. I expect all employees to familiarize themselves with the Code of Conduct and use it to guide your behaviour when you are uncertain.

COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to take its toll. I think most of us have struggled at some point with hours of backto-back Teams meetings. And I know many within the DNV family have now, unfortunately, been infected with COVID-19. I sympathize. As mentioned in my Yammer post on 15 January,

I also received a positive test for the virus. I am grateful and touched by all of the kind well-wishes I received on Yammer, WeChat, in text messages and by e-mail. My sickness was very mild, and I was fully recovered end of January. I was fortunate – but the disease can be very dangerous, particularly the new variants. So please, maintain COVID-safe behaviours – both to protect yourselves and others.

Around the world, well over 170 million people have tested positive, and more than 3.3 million have lost their lives due to the disease. At the same time, vaccination is picking up. Across the world, more than 900 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. So, there are many more people that have been vaccinated than have tested positive. But the vaccines are not evenly distributed across the world. This is problematic because the world will not be safe until everyone is safe. We support the WHO’s recommendation, “that everyone, everywhere who could benefit from safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines should have access as quickly as possible, starting with those at highest risk of serious disease or death.” Ensuring that everyone who can and wants to be vaccinated will be a challenge, but I am positive. As Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”

ON A PERSONAL NOTE

The pandemic has been very challenging. However, it has brought with is some positives, too – more time. I have had much more time with my wife and children, more time for my favourite activity, cross-country skiing, and more time at sea in my boat. The pictures should need no explanation. •