BLS Capital

Ringkjøbing Landbobank

Ringkjøbing Landbobank (The Landbobank) demonstrates how a focused growth strategy and strong cost-discipline can result in high profitability, even when the banking sector as a whole continues to be under pressure. The Landbobank remains among the top ranks of European banks. This was also recognised by Moody’s in 2020, as its credit rating was upgraded to A1 – which is two levels higher than the largest bank in Denmark, Danske Bank. Two of the fundamental components of this well-run bank are a niche-strategy and a centralized credit policy that operates under a “Maximum one A4 sheet” policy

InterContinental Hotels Group

IHG has gone through a form of severe stress-test during the course of a pandemic-ridden 2020, and we find the group has overcome its challenges in an impressive manner. We can see several factors attesting to the robustness of the business model, and credit rating agencies have given IHG a nod of recognition as well, by maintaining the group’s credit rating while downgrading that of its competitors. The future looks bright again for IHG, not least in China, where the group has high growth and a profitability that is nothing short of admirable.

Even though its business is

SimCorp

SimCorp sets the technological standard in a growing industry, and by increasing its investments in product development, the company’s management is taking the necessary steps to keep the positive trends on track. We are very familiar with the client group as their core product is portfolio management systems for clients such as asset managers.

However, asset managers are not SimCorp’s only target group. The company is increasingly focusing on capital owners such as pension funds and foundations. Clients in this segment have a higher willingness and capacity to take the decision

Expeditors

We have always been fond of freight forwarders – and Expeditors is among the best. The business model, its stability and predictability resonate with our hearts, and in addition, the company has an incentive programme with certain mechanisms and requirements that are very rare to find. The company has never had a quarter with negative operating income, and the CEO owns shares equivalent to 100 years of salary. The top management is thus in the same boat as the shareholders.

Expeditors International of Washington – generally referred to as Expeditors – has been focusing on

Novo Nordisk

While Novo Nordisk is built on a story about insulin, the company’s future lies in other products. The core area – treating diabetes – remains the same, but treatments for obesity are expected to be a significant source of growth. We see growth accelerating in this market leader’s journey, where a strong corporate culture and long-term visions will create significant shareholder value. Novo Nordisk is a focused health care company with the exact kind of profile that we like to see.

The number of diabetics and obese people are rapidly growing all over the world. Novo Nordisk

Tryg

When an insurance company is well run, it can lead to extremely good results. Tryg is taking strategic steps to maintain and optimise the value creation from its Danish activities, and the acquisition of the British RSA’s activities in Norway and Sweden will also make Tryg one of the Nordic region’s two largest P&C insurance companies, with a stronger focus on the profitable and steadily growing market for private insurance products. Normally, insurance is a relatively dull business, but 2020 was an eventful year for Tryg with large strategic initiatives and tailwinds due to the corona

S&P Global

Despite many years of great results, S&P Global continues to find new pockets of growth adding to the already sky-high earnings, and the best part is there is no indication that this great success will not continue.

It is rare that all business units of a company act as an industry standard, but this is almost the case for S&P Global, which has revenue of over seven billion US dollars per year and an impressive operating income of almost 50 dollars per 100 dollars of revenue. This strong value creation is due to the company’s unique market position where several of its

Carlsberg

Carlsberg has gone through nothing short of an impressive development over the past 5 years, with the “new” management team successfully trimming and streamlining the company to prime it for growth – the organic kind. Today’s Carlsberg is a profitable company with robust market leader positions in several markets where the potential remains high. Success in China is the key to attractive growth rates in earnings and free cash flow.

While the Carlsberg story started with a brewery in Denmark, it is in Asia – particularly China – that we find the growth driver for the Danish

DSV Panalpina

DSV has come a long way since 11 hauliers in 1976 joined forces and created “De Sammensluttede Vognmænd”. Following the acquisition of the Swiss company Panalpina, DSV has become one of the world’s four largest transport and logistics companies, but the journey is far from over. The integration of Panalpina has proceeded superbly, and the future still bodes for continued growth and a promising potential to improve DSV’s already industry-leading margins.

In many ways, the story of DSV is a unique tale of growth, scalability and focused execution. When 11 hauliers merged their

Coloplast

Faithful readers of “Our companies” will remember Coloplast, which has been one of our companies since the beginning in 2008. Back then, a new top management team was charged with realising the company’s potential, and they certainly succeeded. However, this global market leader is still growing at impressive speeds, and it is constantly focused on improving both the top and bottom lines.

Coloplast is the discrete helper in everyday life around the world. As one of the world’s leading companies in its well-consolidated markets, this company is still gaining global market shares

Mastercard

The strong underlying trend of more and more people around the world choosing to pay for their products and services with a payment card is just one of several reasons we are continuing to be satisfied and expectant co-owners of Mastercard. The fact that the company is also part of the de facto duopoly which dominates the market and that it has a visionary top management constantly searching for new sources of earnings only makes us more optimistic about the future prospects of Mastercard.

We take it for granted that we do not need cash when we shop in supermarkets or buy clothes