Ramboll’s growth momentum continues in the first half of 2023

Ramboll delivers 9.2% organic growth backed particularly by growth within sustainable solutions in renewable energy and environment and health, and a strong performance especially in Denmark. Ramboll now employs more than 18,000 employees globally.

Jens-Peter Saul, President and Chief Executive Officer, member of Group Executive Board

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Global architecture, engineering and consultancy company Ramboll continued its positive growth curve in the first half of 2023, achieving high growth and an improved EBITA margin. With a stable order book across all markets, Ramboll expects continued high organic growth and full year profit margin in line with or slightly above last year.

Gross revenue was DKK 8.4 billion in the first half of 2023, an increase of 7.1% as compared to the first half of 2022.
Organic growth was 9.2% (8.3% in the first half of 2022).
Operating profit before amortisation of goodwill, brand, and customer contracts (EBITA) increased by DKK 62.3 million to DKK 436.1 million, giving an EBITA margin of 5.2%, an increase of 0.4%-point compared to the same period last year.
The order book stands at 7.8 months of secured revenue corresponding to DKK 8.5 billion.

“I am pleased to report another solid half-year result for Ramboll. We are continuing the positive growth rate with 9.2% organic growth across the Group, which is above expectations. Our profit is also higher than in the same period last year, although slightly below our expectations,”

Jens-Peter Saul

Group CEO

The result is achieved despite ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties including high inflation, increasing interest rates, and rising material prices.

“A year and a half ago we launched an ambitious strategy, the Partner for Sustainable Change, that goes all-in on sustainability and commits our global resources to improving the sustainability impact of our projects,” Jens-Peter Saul says. “The strategy has played a central part in our successful organic growth that has been steady at close to 10% the past year and a half - a remarkable increase since the launch of the strategy. I am especially proud of our more than 18,000 employees who are committed to the strategy, and who continue to challenge norms and champion new approaches that help carve out a path to a more sustainable future.”

Strong growth in key markets

Ramboll’s businesses in Denmark, UK and Germany all delivered double-digit growth, contributing strongly to the result. The Energy business unit delivered the highest growth among all business units while Environment & Health also performed particularly well. "Denmark has shown a particularly strong performance with both high growth and profit, which has contributed significantly to our half-year result,” Jens-Peter Saul says and continues: “The Energy business unit has also continued to show high growth with strong market dynamics due to the increased focus on the green energy transition globally and the war in Ukraine affecting energy supply security. This has fueled the energy markets particular within offshore and onshore wind, Power-to-X solutions, carbon capture, utilisation and storage solutions, and in services related to the electrical grid that needs a huge upgrade to keep pace with the massive renewables build out. This high demand for sustainable solutions has had a positive impact on our business,” Jens-Peter Saul says.

Additionally about UK half year results, Philippa Spence, UK Managing Director, Ramboll says:

“The UK business continues to perform well, and at this mid-point of 2023 we have achieved double-digit gross revenue growth at 21%. This trend follows a strong 2022, which saw 22% gross revenue growth. We’ve also welcomed more employees into Ramboll this year, increasing our UK headcount by 10% to 1500.

“Faced with the pressures of inflation, which has limited economic growth and had a direct impact on planned infrastructure investment, we have been well placed to navigate the market conditions thanks to our business mix and focus on sustainability.

“Our success is grounded in Ramboll’s commitment to our people and empowering them to innovate, which is driving systemic changes in how we deliver sustainability for our clients. Not only is this creating positive outcomes for our client’s projects, but for nature, society and our people”.

Full year outlook

Reflecting the strong organic half-year growth and stable order book, Ramboll expects continued high organic growth for the full year and profit margin at the same level or slightly above last year.

Selected large scale Ramboll project wins in the first half of 2023

Creating research facilities for the world's first fully functional quantum computer - In Denmark, Ramboll is chosen by Novo Nordisk Foundation as the full service-consultancy to build an advanced laboratory that aims to develop the world’s first fully functional quantum computer, at Copenhagen University. Such a computer has the potential to help the development of new medicine, insights into climate change and the green transition.
20 MW hydrogen production plant in Germany - In Germany, Ramboll has been appointed to plan a 20 MW hydrogen production plant in the city of Hamm, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Ramboll will carry out basic evaluation, preliminary planning, and permitting services for the plant. When in operation by mid-2026, the plant aims to deliver 1,500 tons of green hydrogen per year from renewable energy sources like locally generated photovoltaic and wind power. The plant will be part of a strategic hydrogen cluster in northern Germany and is crucial for the country’s large-scale hydrogen ramp-up in line with the national hydrogen strategy and with Germany’s target to reach net zero emissions by 2045.
Capturing CO2 from one of the world’s largest cement plants - In Sweden, Ramboll is assisting client Heidelberg Materials in a feasibility study for a large-scale carbon capture storage (CCS) project at their cement plant in Slite. The ambition is to capture 1.8 million tonnes CO2 emissions, corresponding to all emissions at the plant and to 3% of Sweden’s total emissions, by 2030.The client is the only cement producer in Sweden and one of the world’s largest.
City light rail expansion in Bergen - In Norway, Ramboll has signed a contract with client Bybanen Utvikling for project planning of the urban light rail, Bybanen, from Bergen city centre to the Åsane district. Bergen’s urban light rail is a key lever in achieving the municipality’s ambition to offer safe and efficient collective transport in Norway’s second city, and its most important project in ensuring zero growth in car traffic. The 12.7 km stretch will include 14 stops, transporting passengers from Bergen’s city centre to Åsane in 17 minutes. It is estimated that 60,000 trips will be made on the ‘Åsane line’ per day in 2040.
Environmental impact assessment on offshore wind project - In Finland, Ramboll was contracted for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for a new offshore wind project of 1.9-2.0 GW capacity, in Vågskär, in the southern Bothnian Sea. The EIA maps potential environmental impacts of the project across its life cycle and on existing activities in the area.
Supporting the delivery of thriving places - In the UK, Ramboll has secured positions on the Development and Regeneration Technical Services Framework (DaRTS – Lot 1) for Homes England, who want to work with ambitious suppliers to help them drive regeneration and high-quality housing delivery, creating thriving places across the country. Ramboll will provide end-to-end technical and professional services in addition to supporting Prior+Partners to deliver Placemaking, master planning and design services (Lot 2) to Homes England projects until 2027.
Reducing waste reduction for major airline - In the US, Ramboll is working with a major airline seeking opportunities to improve waste diversion and reduce waste across its US hub locations and in-flight operations. Ramboll is evaluating alternatives to single-use plastics, assessing other elements of the airline’s current waste and recycling program, and conducting circularity and lifecycle analysis support for materials used in flight.

Key figures and financial ratios	H1 2023	H1 2023	H1 2022
Income statement	EURm	DKKm	DKKm
Gross revenue	1,129.2	8,412.7	7,851.9
Net project revenue (NPR)	950.2	7,079.4	6,558.8
Operating profit before depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA)	72.2	538.3	472.5
Operating profit before amortisation of goodwill, brand and customer contracts (EBITA)	58.5	436.1	373.8
Operating profit before interests and tax (EBIT)	35.8	266.4	302.0
Profit before tax	33.9	252.7	305.5
Profit for the period	21.0	156.2	194.7
Balance sheet
Total assets		9,917.1	9,508.7
Total equity		3,155.4	3,129.7
Net interest-bearing cash/ (debt)		(33.5)	287.8
Cashflow
Cashflow from operating activities		(264.4)	(172.2)
Cashflow from investing activities		(179.4)	(197.4)
Investment in tangible assets, net		(121.1)	(116.8)
Acquisitions of companies		(37.9)	(161.7)
Cash from financing activities		399.8	(66.4)
Net cash flow for the year		(44.0)	(436.0)
Employees		No.	No.
Number of employees, end of period		18,278	17,050
Number of full-time employee equivalents		16,828	15,827
Financial ratios		%	%
Revenue growth		7.1	10.4
Organic growth		9.2	8.3
Organic growth, Net project revenue (NPR)		10.3	8.2
EBITDA margin		6.4	6.0
EBITA margin		5.2	4.8
EBIT margin		3.2	3.8
Return on invested capital (ROIC)		15.1	16.7
Return on equity (ROE)		11.0	14.0
Rolling 12 months cash conversion ratio		53.0	45.1
Equity ratio		31.8	32.9
Key figures, sustainability
Gender diversity, women %		37.4%	36.4%
Total reportable incident rate (TRIR)		1.28	1.34

Want to know more?

Jens-Peter Saul
Group CEO