A year of Covid-19: Uncertain markets, new opportunities, and digital investor opportunities

2020 is now drawing to a close. It has been a highly unusual year dominated by the global pandemic, which has had serious consequences for many. The following is taken from an article by the Danish Investor Relations Society on four companies’ experiences during the crisis and how well prepared they feel for 2021.

Kåre Wigh, Group Executive Director & CFO of North Media, is quoted as follows:

“We decided in March to suspend our guidance for 2020 due to the crisis and market turmoil. All kinds of unusual things were happening – for example, we had to ask shareholders not to attend the AGM in person.

“Shortly afterwards, though, we were able to begin to normalise things. Volumes at our largest business, FK Distribution, rapidly returned to normal. It has also been very positive to see how flexible all of our employees have been.

“As early as our Q1 results we were able to guide again, and we have since revised up and narrowed our guidance four times, so we’re well on the way back. This is due partly to the normalisation of demand from retailers for the distribution of printed matter, and to our digital businesses such as Boligportal.dk being largely unaffected and continuing to deliver double-digit growth for the year.

“For our IR team, Covid-19 means that we now hold many more meetings virtually and so have fewer physical meetings with investors, and that meetings can be rearranged at just half a day’s notice if, say, people are in some way affected by Covid-19. We’ve also upgraded our webcams and digital conferencing facilities, and virtual meetings have rapidly become a natural part of our IR workflow. This is working well, because we’re getting out more and talking to more and different shareholders, and I expect this will continue after Covid-19, even though a proper face-to-face meeting can still be valuable.

“We stand well equipped for 2021. FK Distribution is stable and mature with strong earnings, and our other areas, consisting of digitally-based growth businesses, are also performing well. Finally, we’re privileged to have a strong capital position, which brings both reassurance and freedom.

“For us, the crisis has been a reminder that even the unimaginable must be part of your risk management, because nobody had Covid-19 down as one of the risks for 2020. We simply need to be ready to review our plans and adapt to the circumstances. It’s about working with a certain element of unpredictability and adjusting accordingly while always staying true to your strategy and priorities.”