CEO Harald Fotland began the meeting by providing a brief overview of the past year:
"On the one hand, war, global tension, and a lingering pandemic have created an unpredictability in the world. On the other hand, favourable market developments, solid fundamentals, and safe, efficient operations have put wind in our sails. Ultimately, 2022 will be remembered as one of the best years for the company, with the strongest annual results since 2008."
Net result of USD 142 million, mainly driven by firming markets
Safety, environmental and operational performance well within targets
Several years of continuous focus on improved cost, efficiency and quality has positioned Odfjell to fully utilize the improving markets
Total dividend FY2022 of USD 66 million
Without diminishing this year's accomplishments, the underlying message of the introduction was clear: Odfjell must continue to improve and grow.
“The purpose of the extended management meeting was to share company-specific information, discuss issues vital to the continued growth of our company, and of course, foster relationship building,” the CEO summarized. The speakers’ presentations were supplemented by questions and discussions, including group sessions.
The CEO also provided an update on the strategy and reminded everyone that our overall strategy is comprised of two important elements:
Odfjell’s strategy encompasses six overreaching long-term goals:
A significant amount of time was spent discussing the topic of talent, specifically Odfjell's ability to both recruit and retain talented people. Alena Pedersen, Vice President of Corporate IT, was quick to point out that:
"Although attracting talent is essential, we need not look beyond our organization to find talent. Every employee has talent and unrealized potential, and it is our responsibility as leaders to identify and utilize these assets”
– a statement that everyone in attendance concurred with. Nonetheless, the discussion about how Odfjell can improve its recruitment process, including ways to reduce the gender imbalance, continued. Our goal remains the same: a gender balance of 30% at all levels.
“To succeed in this mission, we need to take a systematic approach, starting with commitment from the top, and working our way down internally.”
- Ingjerd Nettestad, VP Corporate HR
Another topic that was widely discussed was digitalization. CEO Odfjell Terminals US (OTUS) John Blanchard held a presentation about the success of the Digitalization Program that has been operating in our US terminals. The ambitious program aims to harness the latest technologies to boost efficiency, maintain the highest safety levels, reduce cost, and provide a future-proof foundation for business scalability and growth. One year into the project, the terminals reap significant operational benefits.
“We have encouraged active participation by all staff to allow for bottom-up involvement in process design to improve modality cycle times and service to customers.”
- John Blanchard, CEO OTUS
Blanchard’s presentation expanded on what Alena had already stated in her presentation, that: “digitalization is an important factor in our efforts to improve performance, both for our own operations and for our customers.”
In an ever-changing world, it is important to stay current.
“Odfjell works every day to reduce climate risk, decarbonize our operations, and adapt to the new reality. As we work towards a net-zero future, we are focusing on improving the energy efficiency of our existing ships and future newbuilds. Our future newbuildings will be zero-emission capable.”
- Øistein Jensen, Chief Sustainability Officer
In light of this, some minor changes have been made to Odfjell's climate targets. Changes highlighted in red in the image below:
In an effort to further decarbonize out fleet, Odfjell has some upcoming novel technology projects. VP Technology Erik Hjortland presented three exciting new initiatives:
“Until a sufficient supply of green fuels (from a well-to-wake perspective) is available, we will have to continue to focus our efforts on efficient operations. Odfjell has been leading the way in this field for years, and will continue to invest in energy-saving devices and adopt novel technologies.”
- Torger Trige, Chief Technical Officer
Short term:
Long term:
Harald Fotland:
“The Extended Management Meeting has been a great success. All our objectives were met, but I would particularly highlight the session 'Odfjell in 2035' which gave very valuable contributions as to how we should prioritize in the years ahead of us.”
Øistein Jensen:
“This has been a great forum for sharing perspectives and insights on risk, strategy, market, sustainability, and technology, as well as an open discussion of where we want to be in the future and what it will take from a leadership standpoint.”
Torger Trige:
“Very good to see colleagues in this kind of setting. Much appreciated that so many could join from overseas. My key takeaways are that we have a very strong team and we are well positioned to capture the current high cycle of the market.”
Bjørn Hammer:
“Fundamental supply and demand factors are in our favor, and with all the stars aligned for a healthy chemical tanker market, we are ready for the year ahead.”
Adrian Lenning:
“2023 will undoubtedly hold new 'unknown unknowns', and in such an environment, I am confident that Odfjell Terminals will continue to show its strengths and deliver on its ambitions for profitable growth.”
Terje Iversen
“The strong results and cash flow enable us to continue to refinance and accelerate debt reductions in line with our financial strategy.”
Alena Pedersen:
“I believe that we have succeeded to establish a clearer link between business and IT which will help Odfjell to realize more business value based on data. Being customer-centric is one of the largest value drivers of successful digitalization, and therefore I was very happy to experience that the extended management team also clearly expressed their wish to focus more on customer needs understanding.”
