Schouw & Co.

Solid profitability and adaptation to volatile environment Schouw & Co. has published its interim report for Q3 and based on effects of changes to the global economy and major geopolitical tensions that are still causing uncertainty, Schouw & Co. has narrowed its full-year guidance.  – Our portfolio companies operate in volatile and uncertain environments with tough competition and constant pressure on prices and volume. Despite the current market conditions and lower revenue, we are very satisfied with our ability to increase gross margin and continuously improve efficiency in our operations, says CEO Jens Bjerg Sørensen. Highlights from the interim report for Q3 include:  9.5 DKKbn revenue – a 9% reduction  834 DKKm EBITDA – an 8% decrease  1.2 DKKbn cash flows from operations – a DKK 0.3 billion reduction   14.6 DKK earnings per share – a 14% decrease  13.3% ROIC excluding goodwill – a 0.9 pp increase The full report Q3 can be found here:  https://lnkd.in/dmYHqBmG

Towards 100% renewable electricity   Schouw & Co. has entered a long-term Power Purchase Agreement with Encavis AG for the European business operations of Schouw & Co.  This provides Schouw & Co. with renewable electricity from Encavis AG’s 55 MW solar park located in Andalusia, Spain. Under the PPA, Schouw & Co. will receive approximately 88 GWh of electricity per year. This corresponds to more than 40% of the electricity consumed by our businesses’ European operations — or the equivalent of the annual electricity consumption of around 20,000 Danish households. The Power Purchase Agreement is expected to start in H1 2025. Read more about the PPA here: https://lnkd.in/dfUj5Qnq 📸 Ethical Power

Results are created by people. It’s not just another catchphrase, but an integral part of how we do business at Schouw & Co.  What does this mean to us?  ▪️ We believe that the organisation and its employees are the foundation of any business and that people make our businesses strong, which in turn enables us to take good care of our employees.  ▪️ The bond goes beyond a company name or standardised production equipment; the key to our success is our people and how they collaborate.   ▪️ We insist on decency and respect in all aspects of doing business and we aim for profit, but not at any cost. Our differentiation lies in our people. They have been prepared to embark on a big journey in transforming Schouw & Co. from a local Danish company with international aspirations into a truly international organisation, and their dedication and expertise enable us to unlock our companies' full potential.  So, it really is a representation of our core values when we say: Results Are Created By People 

As we continue our look into the history of Schouw & Co., we now turn to the man behind the name: Victor Schouw.  Victor Schouw was born in 1841, north of Copenhagen, Denmark, and began working in the paper trade at an early age – an industry in which he would later make a name for himself. His career started at a company called Strandmøllen, founded in 1634, and one of the oldest companies in the country. After his employment at Strandmøllen and other paper mills, Victor Schouw began producing paper bags in the rear building of a property in Copenhagen, thus establishing Schouw & Co. – or, as it was known at the time, Schouw & Co. Paper Shop, Paper Bag Factory, Letterpress and Lithography.  Victor Schouw was an economic, diligent and skilled businessman, much in line with the industrial mindset and patient but demanding ownership that Schouw & Co. operates with today.  Victor Schouw and his wife Caroline did not have children, so in 1911, Victor Schouw decided to convert the company into a limited company and leave his fortune to a number of charitable purposes. Upon his death in 1916, he had established several grants for charitable organisations and societies.  Schouw & Co. has grown and evolved since then, but our name remains the same.  Click through below for more – slightly peculiar – information about Victor Schouw.  

Yesterday, 85 colleagues across Schouw & Co. and all six portfolio businesses laced their running shoes for an evening of socialising and exercise at the annual DHL Relay in Aarhus. It is always a pleasure to see our businesses come together, and yesterday was no exception – thank you to all of our runners, walkers and those who cheered them on. #ResultsAreCreatedByPeople

Strong earnings in uncertain markets Schouw & Co. has published the interim report for Q2, and based on the satisfactory results, the guidance for full-year EBITDA has been upgraded.  “Based on the positive performance during the quarter, we are able to upgrade our full-year EBITDA guidance. We continue to focus on profitability in both the short and long term, and we are optimistic about the future”, says Jens Bjerg Sørensen.  Find highlights and more information about the interim report for Q2 here: https://lnkd.in/dDRjchaV  

By the time you finish reading this post, GPV will have mounted more than 11,340 electronic components. You probably already know most of Schouw & Co.'s portfolio businesses and that they are some of the largest companies within each of their fields, but you probably don’t know just how vast their operations are. Click through below to see how big of an impact BioMar, GPV, HydraSpecma, BORG Automotive Group, Fibertex Personal Care Group and Fibertex Nonwovens A/S have:

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A headquarters with a unique history Since 1996, the headquarters of Schouw & Co. has been the historic Villa Alba in Aarhus, Denmark. The history of the villa, however, began long before Schouw & Co. acquired the property. Located in one of the most scenic areas of Aarhus, Villa Alba was drawn by architect Sophus F. Kühnel and built in 1904 for Christian G. Filtenborg, a wholesale trader of watches and a prominent Aarhus businessman. Mr. Filtenborg was a member of the Aarhus City Council, and this is said to have influenced the adornments inside the villa. Floating spirits in the hall are said to represent his colleagues in the city council – happy faces representing colleagues he cherished, and devilish faces for those who weren’t as highly appreciated. Christian Filtenborg worked in and later took over his uncle’s watch company, which he managed to grow into one of the largest watch companies in Scandinavia through mergers and acquisitions – so one could be tempted to say that M&A has been a part of Villa Alba since day one. When Schouw & Co. took over ownership in 1996, architects Inger and Johannes Exner led a thorough restoration to return the villa to its original shine and won an urban renewal prize for restoration in 1997. Since then, Villa Alba has been the home of management, leadership and business impact, as well as expansions, investments, divestments, acquisitions, transformation, and internationalisation, and it is what we believe to be one of the most beautiful offices in Aarhus.

Transforming businesses for 146 years For more than a century, Schouw & Co. was a focused packaging company, which went through several investments and divestments to pave the way for what today is one of the largest companies in Denmark. Since 1988, where the conglomerate strategy was founded, Schouw & Co. has been the majority owner of 12 businesses, of which 6 are still part of the group today. The acquisition of P. Grene, a company distributing unoriginal spare parts to the agricultural sector, was the start of the conglomerate structure with a diversified portfolio, and the stake in wind turbine manufacturer Micon, which today is part of Vestas Wind Systems, meant that Schouw & Co. played a key role in the evolution of the Danish wind turbine industry. In later years, focus has been on a bigger and stronger Schouw & Co., developing the portfolio through active ownership, transformation, and increasing internationalisation. A lot has happened since Victor Schouw started making paper bags in 1878, the first stock was issued in 1911, and the official listing on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange in 1954, but the commitment to building the companies of tomorrow by putting people first remains intact. Read more about our history here: https://lnkd.in/d4u-S-9v