“I am satisfied with Ramboll’s performance in 2023, which we delivered in a market with higher inflation and interest rates. Our performance demonstrates the value of our diverse portfolio and strong position across several markets and geographies. Based on our unique competencies and services, especially within the green energy transition, we navigated difficult market conditions to deliver value to clients. We are progressing well with our strategy and on track to meet our 2025 goals,” says Jens-Peter Saul, Group CEO.

Ramboll’s business unit for Energy delivered double–digit organic growth – and the highest growth among all the company’s business units.

Ramboll continues to progress on its strategic ambition to become the global industry leader in the green energy transition, which is demonstrated by the company’s growing portfolio of energy projects, particularly within Power-to-X, electrical grid upgrades, and offshore substations for windfarms. The latter segment especially is a rapidly growing part of Ramboll’s portfolio, which delivered impressive growth rates in 2023.

“Guided by our strategy, we continue to diversify our offerings, which includes growth in areas where we are already strong, such as offshore wind. Among others, we have expanded from being a leading consultant on offshore wind foundation design, to now offering a full palette of advisory services, which is today an equally large revenue driver,” Jens-Peter Saul says.

“We also see rapid growth in fields like green hydrogen, Power-to-X, and Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage, and Ramboll is well placed to lead this trend. As part of our strategic direction, we are committed to be the leader in the green energy transition and on track to achieve this goal,” he adds.

One aspect of this journey is Ramboll’s gradual redeployment of experts in the oil and gas sector to serve the growing need for renewable energy and low-carbon solutions, by 2025. By end of 2023, nearly 70% of Ramboll’s oil and gas workforce had transitioned to renewable energy projects.

Performance was also strong in the business unit for Environment & Health, which also delivered double-digit organic growth. Among others, this was driven by demand for services within environmental impact assessment, including on projects that drive climate and nature net positive action, as well as helping clients meet increasingly demanding sustainability frameworks.

“We continued to see strong demand from clients to address some of the toughest global problems: urbanisation, climate change and biodiversity loss, and resource scarcity. This is clearly demonstrated by the impressive growth across our Environment & Health market,” Jens-Peter Saul explains.

From a geography perspective, Denmark, UK, and the US achieved solid growth rates, delivering their highest-ever profit.

However, high inflation and interest rates challenged some of Ramboll’s clients, leading to the delay or cancellation of projects, especially in the business units for Buildings, Transport, and Architecture & Landscape, which dampened performance in the other Nordic countries outside of Denmark in 2023. This had an impact on Ramboll’s order book, which was slightly lower than the previous year.

“We have worked closely with clients to help them navigate these challenging market conditions, while keeping sustainability in focus. Our solid results are due to the efforts of our more than 18,000 dedicated and talented employees who are at the heart of the sustainable change we want to make. I am thankful for their contributions in 2023,” Jens-Peter Saul says.

Nick Fellows, Regional Director, Asia Pacific said the region was seeing growing demand for Ramboll’s key sustainability-focused capabilities with increasing interest in our ability to quickly mature APAC’s emerging areas such as waste to energy and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) where Ramboll has established capabilities globally.

“In Australia, as the country moves towards a renewables-led future, we are guiding our local clients, both government and the private sector, through this transition. This year, we extended our geographic footprint with a new office in Melbourne and our Newcastle team moved into a new more collaborative space allowing us to attract the best local talent,” Mr Fellows said.

“We have also seen strong performance across our South East Asian markets, where we are bringing whole of Ramboll capabilities to highly complex multi-disciplinary projects such as the Lim Chu Kang Concept Masterplan in Singapore, which is transforming the area into a highly productive and resource-efficient agricultural food cluster to produce 30% of the country’s nutritional needs by 2030, and supporting the Government of Sarawak to further develop and deliver a Cloudburst masterplan for Sibu city in Malaysia.

“As the region adapts to a growing population, Ramboll is helping the Asia Pacific transform its economy and develop resilient infrastructure to manage a changing climate.”

In 2024, Ramboll’s full-year organic growth rate is expected to be between 4-6% and the EBITA margin is expected to be between 5.8%-6.3%.

Halfway into Ramboll’s current strategy period (2022-2025), the company is delivering as expected and on track to meet its 2025 strategic objectives. Ramboll will continue to invest in employees and the competencies needed to meet evolving client needs, including by addressing emerging sustainability challenges and biodiversity impacts.

• Building a backbone of the renewable energy transition – In Denmark and Norway, Ramboll is collaborating with national Transmission System Operators, Energinet and Statnett, respectively, to strengthen and expand the countries’ energy grids to keep pace with rising demand for electricity in the countries. In Denmark, Ramboll is also assisting the establishment of the North Sea energy island, which will gather power produced by nearby offshore wind farms and distribute it to millions of users in Western Europe.
• Enabling breakthrough science – In Denmark, at Copenhagen University, Ramboll is assisting the Novo Nordisk Foundation in building an advanced laboratory for the world’s first fully functional quantum computer. Ramboll is also supporting the Novo Nordisk Foundation in developing a new laboratory facility for cell therapy, at the Technical University of Denmark, which will translate breakthroughs in cell therapy research into real-world treatments for people with chronic diseases.
• Fast-tracking low-carbon urban transport – In Norway, Ramboll is helping realise an urban light rail project to enable climate-efficient public transportation. The company is working with client Bybanen Utbygging to plan the fifth phase of the urban light rail from Bergen centre to the Åsane district.
• Supporting the future of food in Singapore – Ramboll is helping develop the Lim Chu Kang Concept Masterplan in Singapore, an exercise to transform the area into a highly productive and resource-efficient agricultural food cluster. It will contribute to Singapore’s 30 by 30 vision, which aims to develop the capability and capacity of the local agri-food industry to produce 30% of the country’s nutritional needs by 2030.
• Fuelling the renewable transition through Power-to-X – In Finland, Ramboll is assisting with establishment of the Kristinestad Power-to-X plant, which will have the capacity to convert 200MW of renewable electricity to green hydrogen and sustainable liquified synthetic methane. In Sweden, Ramboll is supporting client Perstorp to halve direct carbon emissions from its Stenungsund facility. The objective is to produce methanol from renewable energy sources, thereby reducing emissions by 500,000 tons per year – equivalent to cutting Sweden's annual carbon emissions by 1%.
• Designing with nature – In Czechia, Ramboll and Henning Larsen are collaborating to transform the Prague Central Station and surrounding park to a welcoming gateway into the city, prioritising low-emission transport and improved urban liveability. In the Netherlands, Ramboll and Henning Larsen are assisting the building of BESTSELLER’s logistics centre, which will be built primarily of mass timber, as well as have a positive biodiversity impact.
• Enabling sustainable refurbishment – in the UK, Ramboll has supported the refurbishment of 3 Sheldon Square, a 10-storey commercial office in London. By applying circular principles, the operational efficiency was improved by over two thirds as compared with a new development in the construction phase. Ramboll also reduced embodied carbon impacts through the retention and reuse of existing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing equipment and materials.

Read about Ramboll’s financial and sustainability performance in the Annual Report 2023