Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the DFDS Q2 Report 2024 conference call. I'm Sagar, the Chorus Call operator. I would like to remind you that all participants will be in the listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session. You can register for questions at any time by pressing star and one on your telephone. For operator assistance, please press star and zero. The conference must not be recorded for publication or broadcast. At this time, it's my pleasure to hand over to Torben Carlsen, CEO. Please go ahead. Thank you very much, and welcome to this call. I'm joined by our new CFO, Karen Boesen, and Søren Brøndholt, head of our IR. Q2 turned out to be a more challenging quarter than expected, and as you know, we consequently revised the earnings outlook for 2024. I'm pleased to report that we still expect to deliver an adjusted free cash flow in 2024 of DKK 1.5 billion. We're dealing with two sets of challenges. One is market headwinds linked to the overall European macro picture and transport market dynamics. The second challenge is our own performance. For some of our activities, performance is also impacted by market dynamics, but we have underperformed in certain areas, particularly our Nordic cold chain unit. If I look beyond Q2, DFDS's strategic positioning is strong. We are positioned to tap into growth from nearshoring. Our ability to engage with large transport and logistics buyers is stronger than ever before. We see a U.K. where the leadership wants to improve trade relations with the EU. We see a Turkey well on its way to reduce inflation, with a good potential for the economy to bounce back in 2025. But let's dive into Q2 and talk more about our performance and the challenges. If we move to page 3, a recap of our Moving Together Towards 2030 strategy. It's unlock network value, it's the green transition, and it's our financial ambitions. And just reminding you of our financial ambitions, it's an annual Adjusted Free Cash Flow of DKK 1.5 billion. It's a ROIC in 2027 of around 10%, and it's a leverage reducing to 2.5 times by 2026. Moving to page 4 to then see where we are in relation to those ambitions. First, ROIC, Q2, last twelve months, we are at 6%, quite a distance away from our ambition. Ferry is at 8%, with North Sea delivering above the ambition, but the Baltics and Channel are currently impacted by lower capacity. Logistics at 4%. We'll come back to this, but our second half year focuses on earnings turnaround. Not much to say about CapEx. We have reduced the outlook DKK 250 million due to timing and other decisions. The Adjusted Free Cash Flow of Q2 was DKK 0.7 billion, and we do still expect to deliver the DKK 1.5 billion for the year. In terms of leverage, leverage reduced 0.1 compared to Q1, but with the Ekol acquisitions, we'll see a slight increase expectedly Q3 or Q4. Moving to page 5, and the headline of our report, Navigating Challenging Markets, we delivered organic growth of 3% despite these challenging markets. Our financial performance, though, was below expectations, and Ferry was impacted by volume and rate pressure in addition to adverse cost dynamics. Logistics was impacted by margin pressure, shift in customer flows, and one underperforming business unit. Looking to second half of the year, the European growth rebound expectations have softened. Our focus is on continued protection of ferry market positions, as ferry is expected to face continued market headwinds. For logistics, key second half priorities are price, warehouse volumes, and turnaround of Nordic cold chain. Our cash flow outlook is maintained, as mentioned, and the top priority remains to deliver on financial ambition of DKK 1.5 billion of annual Adjusted Free Cash Flow. Strong Q2 cash flow was delivered, and with reduced CapEx in the second half of the year, our cash flow outlook is on track. In the strategic perspective of this unlocked value of expanded network, our organic growth ambition continues to be supported by strong customer pipelines. The acquisition of Ekol Logistics network is expected end of Q3, will strengthen our Mediterranean business set up. And the sale of our Oslo route was driven by our transport network focus, where we believed better owners could bring the Oslo route forward. Moving to page six, I will hand over to Karen for some words on our reduced EBIT. Thank you, Torben, and good morning, everyone. So zooming in on our EBIT, first and foremost, as mentioned by Torben, we do have a healthy revenue growth 9% overall, and adjusted for acquisitions and the ETS, which is also a new element in our revenue this year. We see a 3% organic growth, which is still solid for the quarter. However, our EBIT is reduced 28% due to various factors that we will come back to later in the presentation. But overall, you see a reduction compared to same quarter last year in ferry of DKK 133 million and DKK 60 million in logistics, which then takes us to the EBIT of DKK 519 million for the quarter. If we move on to income statement, which is the next slide, I will quickly go through the numbers, but not in too much details as we will come back to them, and then you can obviously read for yourself. Overall, our revenue growth, as mentioned, is 9%, and in summary, and in line with what we gave of guidance updated on 22nd of July. We do see still a revenue growth in line with our guidance and expectations for the year as well. However, our EBITDA this quarter decreased 10% compared to same quarter last year. And then when you at the same time have an increase in depreciation of DKK 11 million, an increase of in... Oh, eight, no, million apparent, apologies, 11%, and an increase in our amortization as well, then obviously you end with a significantly lower EBIT of the -28%. In addition to that, and below the EBIT, we also have increased finance costs, driven by higher interest rates for the unhedged part and slightly higher leasing debt. So a few words more on the revenue, although I have said quite a bit already. Mainly driven overall by the acquisitions. A little bit of half of the growth of the 9% is coming from the acquisitions that we made over the past 12 months. And then of the real growth, we see 4% in logistics, which is true organic growth coming from various regions, some up, some down, but a net growth of 4% organically. And then we also see an increase in passengers, mainly driven by our Channel routes. The ferry freight growth here you see in revenue is predominantly the ETS that comes in through the top line and then gets passed on to our customers. And with that, I will hand back to Torben. Thank you. On page 9, our freight ferry EBITDA is down 8%, as mentioned, or DKK 60 million excluding DKK 54 million decrease in oil spread hedging income compared to last year. The organic decrease is driven by rate pressures and adverse cost development. The passenger EBITDA is up DKK 25 million due to higher volumes and spending in channel, offsetting negative Strait of Gibraltar contribution due to the seasonality of this new business. Depreciation increase of DKK 49 million, which is due to higher cost of dockings, the sale and lease back impact of the 3 mega Ro-Ros implemented last year, and the Strait of Gibraltar acquisition. More details on logistics on page 10. With an organic EBITDA decrease of DKK 56 million, driven by 20% of the revenue, with margin pressure, shift in trade flows, and Nordic cold chain underperformance. For the remaining part of our business, the 80%, we saw a flat development, with general margin pressure, but offset by improved performance in mainly Sweden, contract logistics, our special cargo unit, and our U.K. cold chain. We gained EBITDA from acquisitions of DKK 9 million, and the depreciation increased by 21, of which 8 came from acquisitions. Moving to page 11, cash flows and capital. Operating cash flow is up 32% to DKK 1.3 billion, driven by a strong working capital performance. Operating CapEx is as expected, DKK 300 million, and an adjusted free cash flow for the quarter of DKK 0.7 billion. Last twelve months, we had DKK 2.3 billion. However, this is positively impacted by the sale and lease back of the three freight ferries. Leverage, as mentioned, is lower to 3.1 times net interest bank debt to EBITDA. With that, moving to green on page 13, we see continued progress on both our green and social targets. Our ferry emission intensity reduced 3% for our own fleet, 2% across route network when including charter vessels. Our first deployment of battery ferries on the channel still expected by 2029. We are awaiting response from EU funding for ammonia vessels for green corridors. The rollout of e-trucks continues with now 150 e-trucks in operation, including now also Germany. We have added and continue to add mega charging facilities this time in Rotterdam to service our trucks. In terms of female representation, we increase this 3 percentage point in management positions. Still, of course, far below our targets, but a move in the right directions. In terms of safety, we've rolled out a safety program for all our land-based employees, and we continue to see positive results from this. Moving to page 15, you know, not so much new, but DKK 600 million of capital distribution for the year. Dividend already paid, share buyback of DKK 431 million, of which DKK 270 million is completed by the end of last week. Page sixteen, outlook 2024. It's a more challenging year than previously expected. We now see a growth rebound in Q4. We see a continued rate pressure on our freight routes, ferry routes. On the other hand, we probably have seen, on the road transport, a bottoming out of the haulage over capacity, and therefore, we also see an improvement of our margins during the second half. On the passenger side, the markets are all stable, somewhat softer demand in the Baltics, but no real concerns anywhere. On page 17, as mentioned a couple of times, our cash flow outlook is unchanged. Although the EBIT range is lowered, we continue to keep the strong top line performance, driven by acquisitions, as mentioned by Karen, but also by a solid organic growth. The EBIT outlook range is lowered. We did that already mid-July, to now DKK 1.7 billion-DKK 2.1 billion, whereas before it was DKK 2 billion-DKK 2.4 billion. CapEx is also reduced, and as mentioned, the adjusted free cash flow continues to remain DKK 1.5 billion. Priorities for second half for DFDS is, of course, to protect and to deliver continued organic growth focus, continued focus on protecting our key ferry market positions, add enterprise accounts, and fill the warehouses where we have empty space. Logistics turnaround, price focus, cost focus, and a reversal of the fortunes of the Nordic cold chain. We'll continue to deliver on our short and long-term targets on the green transition. We have a lot of focus on Strait of Gibraltar, the continued success of the integration, and also, of course, the performance, which we can sensibly measure after the high season, so after Q3. Ekol Logistics is moving closer in terms of regulatory approval for the acquisition, and we are ready to start the integration once the approvals have been received. With that, we turn over for Q&A. Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. You will hear a tone to confirm that you have entered the queue. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Questioners on the phone are requested to use only handsets while asking a question. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. Our first question is from the line of Lars Heindorf from Nordea. Please go ahead. Yes, morning. Thank you for taking my questions. A couple of questions from my part. First, maybe a little bit of housekeeping. Can you tell me how much FRS contributed in terms of revenue and EBITDA in the second quarter? The revenue is DKK 257. And then I think we are around, it's a, it's a small double-digit negative EBITDA. Yeah. Negative EBITDA? Due to seasonality, that was as expected, yes. Okay. Well, thank you. And then, maybe a few words on exactly what it is that you're doing in cold chain talk. There are several mentions in the text about the restructuring and, and the cost, which appears to be super high, at least for the quarter. So can you elaborate a little bit on that? And then also, what kind of run rate should we expect in terms of the cost in logistics in the coming quarters? I can certainly comment on the first, which is basically the entity has been quite successful in getting customers. The customers are very large customers, and there have been very big swings in their trade and in the geographies that they move things around. This is fresh meat. This is retail in Denmark, for example. And this has led us to lose a little bit control over the operation. So while we've been growing the top line, we have not sufficiently managed our cost, primarily haulage, both third party and our own haulage. We have also probably gained business at the wrong pricing. But again, once the balancing of those flows turn out to not happening because of changing production patterns among the customers, the costs have gone wrong. We have now revamped the organization. We have started 6-8 weeks ago a relatively focused project to turn this around. And we expect to go from a negative situation in the Danish business to a break even by the end of the year. Is it only Denmark that is loss-making? We have various places with minor losses that are being also addressed, but this is the only place where there is a significant issue. In Denmark, is that... I mean, just to get this clear, whether this is solely caused by cold chain and whether there's also some dry cargo included? How much of is what you do in Denmark, is that, is that only cold chain? We also do dry and both entities are impacted. Okay, but those contracts that you've been winning, apparently at wrong prices, how long will they stick? I cannot go into the details. And it's an element is the pricing, but it is the balancing and also our execution that that are parts of the problems. It's not just the pricing of one or two cost contracts. Okay. Then in the ferry parts, we've been talking about the price pressure in the Baltic, now for at least a couple of quarters. And you mentioned in the guidance upgrades, that has been spreading to the other part of the North Sea as well as the Channel. If you exclude the ETS, because it's a little bit difficult to cut that loss, what would be your sort of ballpark take on how much the average price per lane meter is down in the freight part of the business? I don't think we disclose that so accurately normally. And it is, of course, very much a split per geography that that is the relevant one. But we are seeing single digit reductions in single... You know, overall, a small single digit reduction and higher single digit reductions in Baltics and Channel. Okay. And then, then just the last one, then I head back in the queue. The guidance downgrade on, of the DKK 300 million, you mentioned in the statement there in, I think, mid to late July, it was caused by three factors: price increases in, in freight, price pressure, and then the logistics. Can you say anything how those three parts of, you call it, factors, how they are distributed among the DKK 300 million. Is it equally DKK 100 million each, or, or how is it? Well, I think you can get a clue by looking at our new guidance, where logistics have been reduced from a midpoint of DKK 575- DKK 300-412. So about half, I guess, in logistics and half in ferry. Ferry gone down from a midpoint of (was that 150?) 1,825 to a midpoint of, yeah, DKK 150 each. Okay, all right. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Before we take the next question, a reminder to all the participants, if you wish to register for a question, please press star and one on your telephone. The next question is from the line of, Ulrik Bak from SEB. Please go ahead. Yes. Hi, Torben and Karen. Thank you for taking my questions. First question is also on your, your guidance downgrade from July, where we can now see that it's obviously driven by both segments. But just for, for the ferry segment, can you perhaps help me understand how the development surprised you on the downside? Because volumes seem to have been quite strong at Q1. You also mentioned that they were, volumes were higher than you expected, and given the way the contracts are structured, I would expect that you have some quite good visibility on the pricing of your, your ferry contract. So, so how is it that you were surprised on the downside here? That would be my first question. It's maybe easier that I explain what has happened, then you can judge whether we should have been surprised or not. But the volume development in Q2 has been favorable, but primarily driven by Channel and Baltics, where we have the biggest pricing issues. Whereas we have maintained volumes, or almost maintained volumes in the Mediterranean, but also there with a slow economy, having incentivized customers on board at generally lower prices. So you can say Channel and Mediterranean have delivered below expectations in pricing. And North Sea have seen that or we've seen that the rebound in volumes have not happened in the North Sea in Q2. It's probably postponed till end Q3, and that has also had a negative impact. So on the ferry side, that's the three areas that are causing the impact. Then there is a technicality on the fuel spread that has gone against us as well, adding to the downturn. Okay, understood. And you mentioned in your opening remarks that you expect a rebound in the market by Q4. So what kind of rebound are we looking at here in your assumption? And, you know, just geographically, what would that mean? Would it be, you know, would it be able... Would it make you able to, you know, increase prices in Baltics and Channel? Well, you know, I cannot specifically say exactly what it will mean, but it's obvious if the volumes increase as we expect in the U.K. impacted areas and in Turkey, then we will have a firmer pricing picture as well. Understood. Then a question on the English Channel. If you can just provide a status of the competitive landscape and also your decision to pull out of the Slot Charter agreement with P&O, and also the potential financial impact from this decision. Yeah, the competitive situation is, of course, that with P&O's move to sell a ferry and enter a slot charter with Irish Ferries, that we have to assume that they will be both competitors for a while. For us, the new setup is not attractive at this stage. We don't believe it will have a negative impact for us to withdraw. As part of the new setup, one vessel has been removed from the channel, which obviously also benefits us. And furthermore, we see that some of the savings we were able to produce from changed schedule, we believe that we can actually maintain most of those without losing market share. So, we do not see a financial impact from the withdrawal from the partnership. Okay, I think it sounds interesting that you expect to maintain market share without, you know, increasing your frequency. But in the event that you see- Well, it's on the back of one reduced vessel, right? There's instead of 10 vessels, 9 vessels. And we still have three. Yeah, and then of course, we continue our strong solo situation position on Dunkirk. Okay. But just in the event that you are, with the same frequency, losing market share, would you just accept that loss of market share, or would you be inclined to increase your frequency to maintain the market share? Just to understand your priorities. We will, for now, you've received my assessment of the situation. I cannot speculate what we will do if things turn out differently at this point in time. Okay. And then my final question on logistics. You have acquired Ekol. It hasn't been finalized yet, but is there a potential that this acquisition can support the development of your current challenges in the logistics division? I think, immediately it will not support. It will, it will of course be, a big, task in itself to integrate, logistics. I think once the successful integration has happened, it will support our ferry business for sure in Mediterranean, and it will support our continental, logistics business. But, but from day one, it will be, it will, of course, be something that, that we'll have to focus a lot of attention on. Perhaps just to follow up, have you received any indications from Ekol's current customers from a reaction to this acquisition, positive or negative? Yeah. No. We are not allowed to have any commercial interactions with their customers before the approvals have been received. Then perhaps your own existing customers in this segment. Our own existing customers are, of course, primarily, Ekol's competitors, the other freight forwarders from Turkey. They have been asked by the competition authorities in Turkey, how they looked upon this and have overwhelmingly been okay with DFDS acquiring Ekol. Okay, that's understood. Thank you so much. No further questions. You're welcome. Thank you. For any further questions, please press star and one on your telephone. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Torben Carlsen, CEO, for any closing remarks. Thank you very much to everybody for joining the call, and thank you for your good questions. For the rest of the year, our top priorities are to continue to protect our key ferry market positions and to turn logistics earnings trend around, as also mentioned during the call. In parallel with addressing these priorities, we'll continue to unlock the value of our expanded network and continue to move our green transition forward. And of course, let me just also highlight our commitment to return excess capital to shareholders. We look forward to talking again when we report on progress at the Q3 conference. Have a good day. Ladies and gentlemen, the conference is now over. Thank you for choosing Chorus Call, and thank you for participating in the conference. You may now disconnect your lines. Goodbye.