NIRAS delivers satisfactory 2020 result

NIRAS can look back at a year of significant improvement in profits (EBITA) from 72.2 million DKK in 2019 to 116.2 million DKK (15.6 million EUR) in 2020. The progress stems from a combination of increased productivity and a number of expenditure reductions, which were partially due to COVID-19. Revenue has seen a slight decrease to 2.2 billion DKK (290 million EUR), which is a reflection of the overall slowdown of the economy. A closer look at the result reveals that it has mainly affected Building, Industry, and Development Consulting, while Infrastructure and Utilities have experienced growth.

Back in March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic became a reality, businesses across the globe came under enormous pressure and a very difficult year was on the horizon. Uncertainty was high, but today it is a very satisfied Chief Executive Officer who looks back at 2020.

“We managed to get through 2020 and the coronavirus crisis better than I had dared to hope for. We were able to adapt and maintain production, win new assignments, and reduce expenditures significantly – among other things because we have been traveling far less than usual. It is my experience that we have come closer to our clients even though collaboration is still mainly taking place virtually. We were fortunately able to facilitate this and our clients have reacted quickly and adapted to keep the wheels turning. This has enabled us to achieve the good financial result we see today, which is far better than the scenarios we contemplated when everything closed down a year ago,” says CEO Carsten Toft Boesen.

At the same time, he expresses gratitude for the employees’ ability to carry out decentral initiatives in the form of virtual activities in order to maintain good work and social relations with their colleagues.

International business in development

Before coronavirus, NIRAS was focused on developing its international business in the Norwegian and Swedish markets as well as acquisitions of industry and development consultancies in the UK and Netherlands. Despite travel restrictions, business in both Norway and Sweden has experienced steady growth and increased profits.

Development Consulting and Food & Beverage are the areas most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, both as a result of diminishing sales conditions and related cancellations of projects as well as heavily restricted travel.

High demand for sustainable solutions

2020 saw high demand for sustainable and digital solutions, and this has resulted in various new notable projects. These include a water reduction project for Carlsberg brewery in Fredericia, Denmark, the construction of a CO2-neutral factory for a leading juice brand in the Netherlands, and an offshore wind farm in Vietnam requiring environmental and social impact assessment. In addition, we have focused on the recycling of building materials regarding the construction of a new circular kindergarten made according to the Nordic Swan Ecolabel standards as well as projects, in which NIRAS’ digital sustainability tools have created transparency in decision-making and concrete initiatives towards sustainability.

“Our mission is to deliver sustainable solutions to our clients, and our primary contribution to the UN’s development goals is based on the thousands of projects, where we work in collaboration with our clients and partners deliver sustainable solutions. Of course, we have also a responsibility to minimise our own emissions and maximise our contribution to sustainability. This is why we are working intensively with selected development goals to reduce the environmental impact of our procurement, decrease CO2 emissions, and ensure a healthy and attractive workplace for our employees,” Carsten Toft Boesen says and continues:

“In this regard, COVID-19 has actually been an important lesson we can bring with us. We have learned that we do not need to travel as much as we thought, and that working from home is more productive than expected. A continued large amount of virtual meetings and more days from the home office than prior to COVID-19 will reduce NIRAS’ CO2-emissions and enhance work life balance and productivity by reducing time spent on transportation.”

Growth expectations for 2021

Looking forward, NIRAS’ strategy includes plans for further growth in the Norwegian and Swedish markets among others. NIRAS expects a continuously increasing demand for digital solutions, which is an area that, along with sustainability, is expected drive growth in 2021.

“We are fairly confident looking into 2021 as we have a good pipeline of work. Especially in infrastructure, utilities, and environment, and prospects are also still looking good for large parts of the property market and thereby building. This has a positive influence on the entire consultancy industry and thus on NIRAS as well. Additionally, we are seeing significant investments in Pharma, where we with our industry expertise and experience have won a number of projects. And with our acquisition of AlfaNordic, we are becoming an even stronger player in the Life Science market,” Carsten Toft Boesen says.

Annual Result 2020 

Key figures

(Amounts in millions)