An independent professional jury has picked Group CFO of ISS Heine Dalsgaard as CFO of the year 2014. The nomination follows a thorough selection process initiated by the Danish newspaper Berlingske.
Thursday evening, at an event with several hundred Danish CFOs participating, Berlingske Business announced, that Heine Dalsgaard, Group CFO, ISS A/S, has been named CFO of the year 2014. Every year since 2012, the newspaper has nominated the best Danish CFOs in cooperation with PFA Pension and SAS Institute.
Berlingske highlights that the requirements and expectations are constantly being raised for the modern CFO. It is no longer enough for a CFO to manage a spreadsheet and put the magnifying glass on the right numbers. Increasingly, the CFO must master communication and be able to speak in clear language as well as maintain a close dialogue with both employees and the world around the company.
Heine Dalsgaard, Group CFO, ISS A/S, said:
"I am both delighted and very proud of this acknowledgement, particularly on behalf of ISS and all my colleagues in the ISS finance organisation. Although this award focuses on the role of the CFO, I think it is just as much an acknowledgment of the company and the team around the CFO."
"I don't think it is a coincidence that the judges have looked towards ISS in 2014. In the recent year, ISS has been very busy in the financial domain. We have worked hard to launch an IPO, we have refinanced our debt and continued the execution of our strategy which has resulted in several successful divestments. These are all activities that have required team spirit and hard work within ISS and these are activities, which have been noticed outside ISS. This applies especially to our IPO where 20,000 investors from Denmark and abroad showed confidence in our company by buying shares in ISS."
The CFO of the year is selected based on a four-step process:
Berlingske Research identifies a list of 50 CFOs of the largest and most prominent companies in terms of revenue.
The list is then distributed to the Berlingske Business' expert panel of senior partners in major legal services, accounting and consulting houses, head-hunters, equity managers , CEOs and professors.
The executive search firm Odgers Berndtson interviews the three candidates receiving the highest number of points. A written assessment of each candidate is prepared.
Finally the Jury selects the winner. The jury consist of: Peter North Overgaard, CFO of Berlingske Media, Chairman Jesper Brandgaard, CFO of Novo Nordisk, winner of CFO of the year 2013, Lars Frederiksen, Chairman of Matas, and Per Bank, CEO of Danish Supermarket.
ISS A/S is one of the world's leaders in general services to companies and communities. The activity is organized around 6 areas:
- cleaning services: to administrative premises, schools, hotels, health facilities, industrial companies, etc.;
- building technical maintenance and landscape development services (20%). The group also develops rat and insect extermination products distribution activity;
- catering services;
- support services: distribution and management of mails, logistics services, etc.;
- security services: building gardening and security services, alarm and access control systems installation, etc.;
- professional and industrial premises management and development.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Denmark (3.8%), the United Kingdom and Ireland (13.5%), the United States and Canada (8.9%), Switzerland (8.1%), Germany (7.5%), Australia and New Zealand (6.5%), Turkey (6.1%), Spain (5.7%) and other (39.9%).
ISS A/S 
