The two Germany-Denmark routes grew revenue, including onboard retail and catering, by 40 percent to EUR 363 million in 2022 following solid volume growth driven by the eased effects of COVID-19 restrictions, entailing a rebound and 65 percent growth in the group's car traffic volume with strong improvements on both the Puttgarden-Rødby and Rostock-Gedser routes.

The freight business continued the good traction and grew traffic volume by 5 percent in 2022 from the record level in 2021. The total number of passengers recovered by 68 percent in 2022 with even improvements on the two routes. Activity levels also saw recovery in the group's BorderShops in 2022, and revenue grew by 49 percent to EUR 101 million driven by higher passenger volume and lifted restrictions, even though shopping activity remained significantly lower than before the outbreak of COVID-19. Factors such as increased fuel prices, general inflation pressure and a weak SEK play here a role here.

"The solid rebound in 2022 resulted in record high freight volumes and a leisure summer peak season, which exceeded the pre-COVID-19 level realised in 2019, demonstrating the strength, reliability and competitiveness of our customer offerings. The geopolitical turmoil drove significant volatility and severe increases in energy and bunker fuel prices as well as the disruption of supply chains across industries. Still, we maintained operations as a reliable provider of critical infrastructure connecting Continental Europe and Scandinavia day and night," says CEO Carsten Nørland.

"I am proud of my colleagues and their tenacity and ability to stay the course throughout COVID-19 and deliver strong results in the face of significant market volatility. We will continue on the current trajectory to recapture traffic and grow our business while investing in a greener and more competitive fleet and future ahead of the planned opening of the Fehmarn Belt fixed link. These efforts will be supplemented by targeted initiatives to drive growth through further improvement of the travel experience for our passengers and freight customers. We will remain focused on providing our customers with an excellent service which they value and therefore continue to choose us as their preferred transport route between Scandinavia and Europe," says CEO Carsten Nørland.

Modest growth is expected in leisure and shopping traffic volumes, which are seen to be somewhat impacted by a general economic slowdown. Bus travel is expected to gradually return to previous levels, and the steadily growing freight traffic volume is expected to continue the positive trajectory - however at a modest level. Management expects revenue and profits to increase moderately in 2023 subject to the level of economic slowdown.