While breakfast was being served in the HQ atrium, CFO Jens Lund started the day by being interviewed by Danish business TV Borsen Play about share buy-back programmes. Then, at 9:00 sharp, CEO Jens Bjørn Andersen took to the stage to welcome analysts, investors and journalists to DSV and a packed day of information about DSV.

Capital Markets Day is a recurring event for our stakeholders, although there is no set interval. The last CMD was in 2011.

M&A if and when it makes good business sense

The entire executive team was there, representing a total of 150 years of DSV management experience. A full line up, allowing our stakeholders to get the latest news directly from the horse's mouth and to ask questions directly to the responsible manager.

Jens Bjørn Andersen was the first one on the floor, and having reported on current business performance and financials, he reassured the crowd that M&A is still high on the DSV agenda, provided it's a good business case: The right fit at the right price:

Jens Lund and I are well aware of the M&A opportunities within the industry, we keep abreast of developments, and every week we have meetings about potential acquisitions. But we are not desperate, we're in good shape and not under pressure to make acquisitions to grow - and we're not going to do M&A's just to meet expectations. On track and working on achieving ambitious targets

Following Jens Bjørn Andersen's introduction, each of the divisional CEO's presented their state of affairs, emphasising challenges and opportunities. Common to all three divisions is the ambition to take market shares and increase productivity through new and improved IT systems.

To illustrate the role and importance of IT, the divisional presentations were interspersed with an IT case and presentation by Department Manager Morten Landry Sørensen and CIO Jesper Riis, respectively. This worked really well to show that our TMS (transport management systems) are key to continued efficiency and transparency - and to freeing up freight forwarders to do what they do best: Buying and selling at a good price and providing excellent customer service.

Department Manager Morten Landry Sørensen talking about the Air & Sea Division's Transport Management System

It's really all about the customers

In the second half, Chief Commercial Officer René Falch Olesen gave an update on customer and market trends, including new express delivery services such as Amazon's Primenow one hour delivery service for prime members.

Basically, customers want more, faster and easier with full track'n'trace - and preferably for less. This puts great demands on supply chain logistics and all related products.

"Convenience ranks as the most important factor for B2B users when purchasing products and services," one of the slides cited (Forrester Research, 2014).

For this reason, great efforts are being put into a new digital E-booking platform - MyDSV. Simultaneously, the entire sales organisation is working hard to listen and talk to customers through our Customer Dialogue Programme. Both new and existing customers are in focus.

Wrapping up with the numbers

Saving the best for last, as CFO Jens Lund himself pointed out, the analysts, investors and journalists were given a rundown of the financial numbers and governing accounting principles.They were also reassured that the search for operational excellence will continue across DSV.

Jens Bjørn Andersen recapped the key takeaways from all presenters before sending our guests on a guided tour of the HQ cross-docking terminal with Group Property Director Brian Winther Almind.

distributed by