Friland Deutschland GmbH

Leverandørselskabet Danish Crown AmbA

Randers

Konzernabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.10.2022 bis zum 30.09.2023

Reader's guide to the report

Reports

Our report suite for 2022/23 comprises this annual report presenting our financial and ESG performance and a separate remuneration report. There are two significant changes from last year: our annual and sustainability reports have been combined, and we are publishing a remuneration report for the first time.

The annual report presents our work on sustainability in accordance with sections 99a and 99b of the Danish Financial Statements Act. Together with our website, it also forms the basis for our Communication on Progress to the UN Global Compact.

Website

As well as providing direct access to the annual report, our website, www.danishcrown.com, contains policies and information on key activities and developments in the group, both in general and specifically in terms of ESG performance.

Social media

We share stories and news on topics such as product development, sustainability, our business and our brands through our social media channels.

We welcome any comments, suggestions or questions you may have regarding our report and our financial or sustainability performance. Please send an e-mail to: dc@danishcrown.com or sustainability@danishcrown.com

Table of contents

Report

Our business

Our business model

Chairman's report

Group CEO's report

Megatrends

Financial and non-financial highlights

Strategy

Feeding the Future

Follow-up

Sustainability

Science-based targets

Business

Business areas

Danish Crown

Sokołów

KLS

DAT-Schaub

Group key figures

Financial review

Outlook for 2023/24

Risks

Sustainability statements

Materiality assessment Environment

Social

Governance

Board of Directors and Executive Management

A culture of compliance

Remuneration

ESG performance

Target and activity overview

Indicator overview

Methodology and definitions

Financial statements

Consolidated financial statements

Income statement and statement of comprehensive income

Balance sheet

Statement of changes in equity

Cash flow statement

Notes, group

Parent financial statements

Income statement

Balance sheet

Statement of changes in equity

Notes, parent

Management's statement and auditor's report

Group structure

Supplementary information

Sustainable Development Goals

Policies and commitments

Our climate vision is climateneutral meat production by 2050.

Setting science-based targets is a step towards achieving that.

Adding value from farm to fork

Danish Crown is a farmer-owned global food company headquartered in Denmark and with a presence in 26 countries. We provide food for consumers all over the world through our various brands. Our product range is based on protein and consists of fresh and processed meat, plant-based products, and ingredients for pharmaceuticals, animal feed and biogas. We strive to maximise the market value of our products by building on strong customer relations and consumer insights, high quality, sustainability, food safety and animal welfare.

Everybody should have the right to enjoy good, nutritious food safely, but we also need to feed a growing global population while minimising harm to the planet we share. At Danish Crown, we can make a difference to food and make agriculture a driving force for change. We prioritise value over volume and are committed to healthier products, care for our animals and thriving farms.

Danish Crown was founded in 1887. As a cooperative, we are guided by our vision "Together, we are creating a more sustainable future for food", and we operate our business with the aim of leading the green transition in our industry and creating financial, social and environmental value at every step from farm to fork.

Danish Crown is Europe's largest producer and a major exporter of pork and organic meat, and among the top five producers of beef in Europe. We receive pigs and cattle for slaughter and further processing from our 5,737 Danish farmer owners and from farmers in Sweden, Germany and Poland. We have 69 abattoirs and processing facilities, 44 casing facilities, 13 separate warehouses and 55 offices. The majority of our 25,796 employees work at our production facilities in Europe.

Fair payment for meat

Most of Danish Crown's earnings are paid back to our cooperative owners through regular settlements and annual supplementary payments.

Local workplaces

We create jobs around the world both directly and indirectly and contribute locally to upgrading the qualifications of our workforce.

Sustainability throughout our value chain

We aim to lead the way towards making food production sustainable and involve our entire value chain in ensuring resource efficiency and in reducing adverse sustainability impacts.

Meals for consumers

By maintaining a high level of security of supply and food safety, we ensure millions of high-quality meals for consumers in most parts of the world.

Sustainability and adding more value can create new market positions for us

Danish pig production and Danish Crown have long relied on exports of pork outside the EU and a strong market in the UK. In short, we have thrived and developed our business based on Danish abattoirs' ability to switch from market to market with a primary focus on quality pork for the food industry. This has been successful because Danish abattoirs have been among the best in the world for decades at adapting to customer needs, whether selling bacon to the UK, pork bellies to Japan or large quantities of cuts to China.

Competitors in southern Europe have multiplied their production and exports to our traditional markets. As they produce at lower cost with integrated value chains, they are able to offer products at a lower price. This is a challenge for us.

The large fluctuations in the number of pigs supplied to our abattoirs have made it very difficult to optimise production. I am therefore delighted that our farmer owners are now reporting their expected production figures for the coming year. This makes it easier for us to plan and adjust capacity more accurately.

Strengthening competitiveness

We have an opportunity to take a new leadership position in the market based on sustainability. We need to find that extra gear and make the transformation necessary in production and on the farms. We have set ambitious goals for greenhouse gas reductions, and we need to understand how to convert those goals into a strong market position.

To improve competitiveness, in August we initiated a comprehensive simplification and transformation of our business. I have great confidence that we will see clear results from this programme. We will also continue to optimise our production structure in other ways, ensuring that we always have the right set-up and remain the best company for our owners.

More Beef farmer owners

Our Beef farmer owners had a good year financially, albeit not at the same very high level as in 2021/22. Our beef business performed well, with a good mix of retail products and products for the food industries and food service both in Denmark and in our European markets. A strong effort from Member Relations meant that we were again able to welcome new beef farmers to the cooperative during the year, despite structural changes in the Danish beef sector.

Digital solutions and more sustainability initiatives

We offer our pig farmer owners a wide range of tools and digital solutions that help them in their daily work on efficiency and sustainability. I am pleased that we also launched projects during the year to test new ways of reducing carbon footprint on farms. We have set clear goals for sustainability and our owners play a key role in collectively achieving these goals.

Farm economy has improved

I am delighted that the farm economy improved during the year, and that Danish agriculture in general is in a much better position. Denmark is a good country for farming. We have developed a huge knowledge cluster over the past 150 years with a unique array of supply and processing companies, education programmes and consultancies. We have every opportunity to lead the way in reducing the carbon footprint of livestock farming with all the expertise we have available.

We believe in Danish pig and cattle production, and we are confident that Danish Crown will remain the best company for those who choose this path.

Challenges must be turned into opportunities

It was a historically challenging year for Danish Crown. European production of pork had to find its balance without significant exports to Asia, especially China, which caused disruption. Weak demand in Asian markets led to oversupply in European markets, and this, combined with inflation-driven changes in consumer behaviour, sparked a dramatic decline in European pig production. The resulting shortages at abattoirs drove a significant increase in pig prices across Europe. Record-high prices have not, however, prompted European pig producers to increase production.

Pressure on results

The lack of exports from the EU particularly affected Danish Crown, making it harder to command the premiums from the markets outside the EU needed to offset our higher costs in Denmark. At the same time, our processing companies reported weak results due to high raw material prices, and consumers reduced their spending on food due to inflation. So, despite relatively high quotation paid to our farmer owners by historical standards, we have lagged behind the European average since the beginning of the year. Clearly, that is not satisfactory.

Restoring competitiveness

In light of these challenges, we focused on ensuring a continued healthy business and competitive returns in the long term. We closed facilities, increased efficiency and adjusted production to match the raw material base affecting 1,700 employees. We now have an opportunity to target investments in our remaining facilities and in additional automation. In August, we further accelerated a major efficiency plan aimed at delivering DKK 1.5 billion over the next two years.

The programme includes optimising sales, administration and support functions, improving capacity utilisation at our facilities, and increasing the margins on processed products. Sales efforts also need to be segmented and focus more on customers who prioritise Danish pork and products from Danish Crown or seek a food partner dedicated to sustainability.

Approved climate goals

Sustainability is a major topic in discussions with our customers, opening up opportunities for partnerships and collaborations. Our task is to ensure that the ambitious climate goals set by our farmer owners to reduce carbon emissions are met. We must be more selective in the customers we work with and increasingly focus on future customers who can and will embrace the green transition. Last November, the Science Based Targets initiative approved our target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 42% in scope 1 and 2 and 20% in scope 3 by 2030. The fight against climate change is a global challenge, and we must deliver on our goals.

We therefore joined forces with several other Danish companies to create a carbon-neutral transport corridor between Denmark and the UK so that we can get products from our Danish farmer owners to British consumers without harming the environment.

New beef products developed

The beef market managed to find a new and consistently high level after a record-breaking 2021/22, and we succeeded in providing a competitive return to our farmer owners. In both Germany and Denmark, the industry's total production capacity was adjusted during the year, but we managed to keep our raw material intake relatively stable. New products and concepts were developed in close collaboration with our farmer owners and were welcomed by customers and consumers in Denmark, Germany and Southern Europe. Our hide business Scan-Hide put significant work into product traceability, contributing to positive results.

In conclusion

I would like to thank each and every one of our employees and our farmers for their hard work in a difficult year.

I cannot promise that all challenges will be resolved in the new financial year, but we have taken a significant step forward with a strong action plan to restore our competitiveness.

Megatrends

In today's rapidly changing world, it is essential for businesses to be aware of the global megatrends shaping our society. These megatrends have far-reaching implications for industries, economies and the environment. By understanding and adapting to these trends, we can position ourselves for long-term success.

Green power, electrification of processes, and substitution of natural gas with biogas are top priorities in the efforts to achieve our emission reduction target.

Climate change

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time. The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events have led to devastating natural disasters with lasting repercussions. Changing weather and climate change will affect the food industry, for example through livestock farmers' ability to source affordable feed. Governments worldwide are also implementing laws and regulations to promote the use of renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions. Danish Crown is embracing the challenges and working proactively to transform our operations and value chain. Combating climate change is an important element of both our business strategy and our sustainability strategy.

Urbanisation

All around the world, people are moving from rural to urban areas, leading to rapid growth in the big cities. As a result, smaller towns and rural areas are often left underpopulated and with a limited pool of labour. This trend has implications for businesses, as they must consider the concentration of consumers, talent and resources in urban areas when planning their operations. When it comes to agriculture, it is crucial that the younger generation sees farming as an attractive way of life and understands how food is produced. Consumers in urban areas may have easier access to a variety of cuisines and dining options, potentially leading to increased restaurant dining and a shift away from traditional home-cooked meals.

As cities become more densely populated, environmental concerns can become more prominent. Urban consumers may be more inclined to make sustainable and eco-friendly choices in food.

As a food company, we typically have production facilities in more rural areas, and we are running proactive recruitment initiatives to attract candidates for our jobs. We are mindful of the effect on local communities when we open or close facilities, and in the latter case we do our utmost to support people in finding new employment.

As cities become more densely populated, environmental concerns can become more prominent.

The Danish Crown dashboard provides real-time insights and production benchmarking for farmers, enabling data-driven decisions.

Digitalisation and Industry 4.0

The world is rapidly moving towards a digital economy. The Internet has become a modern utility, and we are seeing a fourth industrial revolution towards Industry 4.0. Smart devices, artificial intelligence (Al) and robotics are transforming the way we live and work.

Automation is increasingly replacing physically hard manual labour in many sectors. This is also the case at Danish Crown, and we are constantly exploring how automation can help reduce the physical strain on employees at our production facilities. Danish Crown aims to position itself as a significant developer of new machinery and robotic solutions. By independently developing and patenting these innovations, we will turn the automation agenda from a challenge into a competitive advantage. Digital solutions will further strengthen the integration of our value chain from farm to fork.

Geopolitical instability

Geopolitical instability is impacting businesses globally. Conflicts of interest between nations can lead to political, economic, military and social risks that have implications for businesses operating in the regions affected. This is naturally also the case for Danish Crown, as we are heavily reliant on exports, and any restrictions on our access to markets will impact our business. Our costs and our farmers' costs can also be adversely affected by global instability. Strengthening the resilience of global supply chains and diversifying market presence are therefore imperative to navigate the shifting geopolitical landscape. In most markets we are seeing a clear preference for locally produced food.

Understanding and adapting to global megatrends is vital for businesses in today's dynamic environment. By staying informed and proactive, we can identify opportunities, manage risks and align our strategies with the evolving needs and expectations of our customers and stakeholders. Embracing sustainable practices, leveraging digital innovations and navigating geopolitical complexities will position us for long-term success and help create a better future for all.

Understanding and adapting to global megatrends is vital for businesses in today's dynamic environment.

Strategy

Minimising the impact of the climate challenge is Danish Crown's opportunity to become more relevant to customers and consumers than ever before. We need to deliver on our promise to offer sustainable food. When we succeed, we can pay our owners a higher price for their raw materials, enabling them to invest more in their farms. In short, we must create a positive, upward spiral.

Ambitious strategy is boosted to deliver results faster

In our Feeding the Future strategy, the focus is on reducing the carbon footprint of meat and adding more value to our products and categories.

In the future, we must be able to feed the global population with more sustainable food and add value throughout the value chain from farm to fork. By investing in new technology, sustainability and innovation, we aim to deliver on our promise to consumers and customers to supply more sustainable food and products that meet consumer demand. In this way, we will also be able to pay a higher price to our owners for their raw materials, which will enable them to continue investing and thereby reduce the carbon footprint on their farms. Our goal is not to produce more pigs, but rather to create more value from the raw materials supplied by our farmer owners. For Danish Crown, the strong focus on sustainability is an opportunity to become even more relevant to customers and consumers. Our ownership by Danish farmers is a unique opportunity for us to drive the green transition and increase the added value of our products all the way from farm to fork.

Despite troubled markets, our ambitious Feeding the Future strategy remains intact. While we increased the settlement price for our cooperative owners by 24% in 2022/23, we still-face challenges in our value chain.

Our competitiveness is measured against an index consisting of a weighted average of our peers in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Spain. Unfortunately, we did not meet our strategic target of paying DKK 0.60 above this index in 2022/23. We came out DKK 2.56 below the index.

To adapt to the situation, we have taken various steps to restore an efficient supply chain, including reducing production capacity and closing two production facilities, as the number of pigs for slaughter has decreased in our home markets in Germany, Denmark and Poland. Over the summer, we sharpened our ambition in order to deliver on our Feeding the Future strategy even faster, and we have in fact managed to retain our market shares for products for retailers and the food service market.

Making substantial investments in sustainability, the value chain and innovation from farm to fork

Our goal is to invest DKK 4-5 billion in agriculture and DKK 11-12 billion within Danish Crown.

Maintaining a sustainable production level for Danish pigs at the current level of 10-13 million

Our goal is not to be biggest, but to supply the best and most valuable products.

Smart and efficient supply chain

A stable supply of pigs combined with spreading our intra-group best practice enables us to reduce our costs by DKK 1 billion while delivering valueadded food.

More sustainable high-quality food

Our goal is to supply high-quality food in key categories to customers and consumers around the world.

Adding much more value to our products

We aim to boost demand in our markets by increasing farm-to-fork sustainability, sharpening our focus on innovation and increasing sales of our branded products.

Continuous investments

Based on greater differentiation with respect to innovation and sustainability, we aim to command a premium, which in turn will enable us to invest further in innovation and sustainability.

Investing in sustainability, value chain and innovation

Our Feeding the Future strategy sets a goal of investing around DKK 2 billion annually over a five-year period, focusing particularly on the value chain, sustainability and innovation.

This year, we invested more than DKK 1 billion in developing production facilities, technology and machinery for automation. For the first time in more than two decades, we filed a patent for a newly developed machine, and our aim is to use automation as a competitive advantage. We expect automation to replace physically demanding jobs while creating new jobs requiring other skills.

In the UK, we invested around DKK 360 million in a new bacon plant in Rochdale. In Poland, we began work on improvements at the abattoir in Robakowo.

In Denmark, we finalised the construction of our new head office in April 2023, creating a modern and collaborative environment for our colleagues. For the new head office we expect to obtain the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB) gold certification for buildings and DGNB heart for healthy indoor climate.

When making new investments, we focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and packaging while improving the working environment.

Maintaining a sustainable production level

European pig production fell by an average of 7% in 2022/23. This was reflected in the Danish market, with 17% fewer pigs supplied to Danish Crown. The number of pigs sent for slaughter declined to close to 11 million, which is still within the strategic framework. We have therefore had to adapt to the situation, and we have taken steps to restructure our production footprint.

Smart and efficient supply chain

Due to tougher market conditions, we needed to take action to safeguard our future competitiveness and make some difficult decisions in order to meet our target of cutting costs by DKK 1 billion by 2026. Towards the end of the year, we accelerated our plans and launched a cost-saving and improvement program that over a two-year period is aimed at increasing earnings by DKK 1.5 billion.

In the first half of the year, we adjusted our production footprint in Germany by closing our facility in Boizenburg and concentrating our activities at our abattoir in Essen. We also streamlined our organisation and regrettably dismissed 150 salaried employees, and we closed our abattoir in Sæby, Denmark. All in all a reduction of 1,700 employees in the group.

Our supply chain excellence initiative Optima has helped us bring down costs in our supply chain. The programme has now been implemented at 14 facilities and has proved a valuable tool for identifying and reducing costs.

We launched a major logistics project during the year to rethink and improve our transport solutions in terms of sustainability and energy sourcing. In a new partnership within logistics and food transport, a double-digit DKK million figure has been earmarked for innovative solutions to reduce our climate footprint. A future where natural gas for our production facilities in Denmark and diesel for our trucks can be replaced with biogas and other sources of energy created from our own biological waste is no longer a dream, and we have secured access to significant amounts of green energy for our Danish production facilities through a new strategic agreement with a biogas company.

Sustainable high-quality food

Having our near-term climate targets validated and approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a key milestone in our journey to ensure that our climate actions lead to significant absolute reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. The targets we submitted are broken down into sub-targets for scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions based on detailed mapping of all significant greenhouse gas emissions throughout our value chain. Read more on page 16.

Our Climate Track sustainability programme is a tool that helps our farmers to work with sustainability on farms. In Denmark, all of the farmer owners supplying pigs and cattle are covered by the programme, as are most pigs from our Swedish contract suppliers, and the programme is also being rolled out for pigs from our German contract suppliers.

Adding more value to our products

In May, Danish Crown launched a new brand platform bringing together our efforts in the belief that "Food can make a difference". The idea is to create a strong and coherent Danish Crown brand building on our background in sustainability and quality. We will draw on our heritage as a farmer-owned business and create a strong connection between the farmer and the consumer. We aim to be one of the most sustainable animal protein companies in the world and use this to transition into a food company.

Our brand story needs to be relevant to customers and consumers across numerous markets. Extensive insights into consumer preferences in different markets will guide us in the choices we make going forward.

↓ 42% in CO ₂ e reductions in scope 1 and 2

We will reduce our global CO ₂ e emissions in our own operations by 42% by 2030.

Continuous investments

Our efforts to move more products higher up the value ladder were stepped up during the year. For example, we invested in a new plant in Rochdale, UK, for slicing and packaging Danish bacon for the UK market. The state-of-the-art facility will employ around 300 staff and handle over 900 tonnes of bacon weekly. With a focus on sustainability and customer partnerships, the plant is well-positioned to meet UK demand. The investment strengthens our position not only in one of our most important markets but also in the bacon category, which is one of our three global categories alongside toppings and canned products.

Strategic highlights from our three business units Danish Crown Beef, DAT-Schaub and ESS-FOOD.

Strong performance at Danish Crown Beef

Payments to Danish beef farmers are making us optimistic about maintaining competitiveness in the market. Danish Crown Beef has a robust value chain from sourcing the animals to delivering the end product, and this favourable position allows us to focus on realising our strategy. The goal is to add value to available raw materials with a strong emphasis on value over volume, directing investments towards innovation and marketing.

DAT-Schaub family grew in 2023

Casing company DAT-Schaub has acquired the majority of the shares in SELO, which is among the market leaders in sales of artificial casings for sausage production in the Benelux countries. The transaction strengthens DAT- Schaub's position as one of the top three casing companies in the world.

Organic growth in a difficult market

ESS-FOOD has set itself the goal of expanding its operations in its principal markets in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Europe. The company delivered on this overall strategic ambition during the year with particularly strong performance in the Middle East and a number of European markets.

Our strategy to deliver on sustainability

We believe that delivering on our sustainability targets is essential for the future of our business. As a food company, we play a vital part in taking care of our people, our animals and our planet, and we aim to be respected as providing value for society. Our sustainability strategy addresses key impacts, risks and opportunities in our value chain from farmers and our own operations to customers and consumers.

Together with customers and consumers

Danish Crown's products contribute to around 43 billion meals each year, and we see sustainable food as a growing trend that will increase in both value and volume across markets. This is an opportunity for us to become even more relevant for our customers and consumers by offering safe, sustainable, healthy and nutritious products with informative labels. We are therefore developing new food concepts together with our retail, food service and food industry customers.

Good jobs for everyone

Our employees are our most valuable asset, and our top priority is to ensure good jobs and a healthy working environment where people thrive. Acknowledging that working in our industry can be physically demanding, particularly in production, we have a constant focus on preventing accidents and work-related illnesses. We strive both to retain and develop our existing employees and to attract new staff. We view diversity as a competitive advantage and offer jobs to people with different backgrounds.

Sustainable farming

Our farmer owners work hard to ensure resource-efficient livestock production and to further improve their environmental footprint. Reducing farm level emissions is crucial to sustainability at farms and in meat production. The research and innovation needed to achieve significant reductions cannot be undertaken by the individual farmer. Helping our farmers in their sustainability journey is key to achieving our climate ambitions. Sustainable farming also includes high animal welfare standards, protecting livestock from harmful viral diseases, such as African Swine Fever, and preserving biodiversity.

Sustainable food production

Efficient use of resources and circular solutions are vital to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide sufficient food for the world's growing population. All production facilities strive continuously to optimise production processes and reduce energy and water consumption as well as greenhouse gas emissions and waste generation. We work closely with our suppliers when sourcing products and services to drive sustainability standards throughout the value chain.

Setting science-based targets

Combating climate change is a key element of our sustainability strategy, and working with our climate targets has therefore been central in our sustainability efforts in 2022/23. In addition, we have also worked with many other areas covered by the sustainability strategy, as described in our Sustainability statements.

Our climate vision is climate neutral (net zero) meat production by 2050. Setting science-based targets is a concrete step towards achieving that.

In September 2021, we made a commitment to set climate targets under the UN-backed Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). We submitted our targets to the SBTi for validation in July 2022, and our near-term targets were approved in November 2022.

Our near-term targets are broken down into sub-targets for scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions based on detailed mapping of all significant greenhouse gas emissions throughout our value chain. Our SBTi-approved targets are:

These replace our previous target of cutting our greenhouse gas emissions from production and logistics by 50% per kg of meat by 2029/30 relative to 2004/05. Although the percentage reductions in the new SBTi-approved targets are lower, they strengthen our ambitions as they refer to a much shorter period and come on top of the considerable reductions in emissions made before 2019/20.

We can already see that things are moving in the right direction: our scope 1 and 2 emissions decreased by 10% from 2021/22 to 2022/23, and scope 3 emissions per output produced by 4% from 2020/21 to 2021/22 ².

To continue our progress towards our reduction targets, all our business units developed detailed reduction roadmaps in 2022/23 for scope 1 and 2 emissions. For scope 3, our efforts to reduce emissions extend throughout the value chain, but the greatest reduction potential is on the farms. Danish Crown has identified a long list of initiatives to bring down emissions further at farm level, the most important of which are shown in the figure on the next page.

¹ Business activities that are not representative of Danish Crown's overall production and/or represent only a minor share of our climate impacts were not included in the final scope 3 target. The target addresses 88% of the base-year scope 3 emissions, which meets the minimum ambition requirements for the physical intensity approach.
² Given the high complexity of scope 3 emissions and our reliance on third-party data, scope 3 emissions for 2022/23 will be available in May 2024.

Key initiatives for reducing scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions

Farm level

Reduce farm level emissions for our slaughter animals in Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Poland.

Production

Decarbonise our electricity consumption and investigate biogas options

Logistics

Work together with our logistics providers to deliver emission reductions

Sourcing

Engage with our key suppliers and establish partnerships with selected suppliers

Business

In this section of the report, we provide an overview of developments in our markets and the activities and performance of our individual business areas: Danish Crown, KLS, Sokołów and DAT-Schaub. The section will also provide you with an overview of our key performance indicators, a financial review, a glimpse into the outlook for the upcoming year, and insights into identified risks and our strategies for mitigating them.

Business areas

Our business is organised to support our Feeding the Future strategy aiming at creating more value from the raw materials our owners provide - throughout the value chain from farm to fork.

Danish Crown

Suppliers

Supplies of pigs, cattle and other raw materials

Production facilities

Denmark, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, UK, France, China

Commercial offices

Denmark, Germany, China, UK, Japan, France, Italy, Philippines, Vietnam, USA

Categories

Fresh meat, bacon, convenience, cold cuts, canned products, toppings, sausages

Brands

Danish Crown, Tulip, Friland, Steff Houlberg, Gøl, Mou, Den Grønne Slagter, NordicSpoor

Sokołów

Suppliers

Supplies of pigs, cattle and other raw materials

Production facilities

Poland

Commercial offices and stores

Poland

Categories

Fresh meat, sausages, cold cuts, convenience

Brands

Sokołów, Sokoliki, Uczta Qulinarna, Naturrino, Z Gruntu Dobre

KLS

Suppliers

Supplies of pigs, cattle and other raw materials

Production facilities

Sweden

Commercial offices

Sweden

Categories

Fresh meat, cold cuts, convenience, sausages

Brands & concepts

Dalsjöfors, Charkuterifabriken, Ugglarps, Ingemar Johansson, Charkprodukter

DAT-Schaub

Suppliers

Supplies of casings

Production facilities

Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Portugal, USA, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, China

Commercial offices

France, Denmark, Poland, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Estonia, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, USA, Chile, Colombia, Brazil

Categories

Casings, mucosa, heparin, stomachs

Brands

No brands

A new way forward for Danish Crown in a disrupted market

2022/23 was another year characterised by international disruption and challenges. Inflation, the energy crisis, war in Ukraine and general uncertainty gave cause for concern all around the world. For Danish Crown, we also saw a decreasing supply of pigs and a shift in consumer demand which required us to find new ways to move forward.

The situation in most of our markets changed dramatically during 2022/23. Our sales were negatively impacted by the decrease in demand sparked by the inflationary environment, which prompted consumers to limit their consumption of meat and pushed them towards cheaper options such as private label and discount products.

All markets are witnessing a general decline in the consumption of meat protein because of changed consumer preferences towards eating less meat and substituting meat with other proteins.

At the same time, our Danish abattoirs were challenged by a decreasing supply of pigs. Among other things, this was caused by a strong German domestic market that pushed piglet prices there to extremely high levels, causing a sharp increase in exports of piglets from Denmark. Danish pig production fell by 17% compared to the previous year.

This clearly shows us that our Feeding the Future strategy has the right focus - moving away from selling fresh or frozen meat to the food industry towards selling more processed products to food service and retail customers, and thereby adding more value to our products. As a food company we want to be where the consumers are and develop accordingly. We are supplying consumers with good food products at an attractive price, but also focusing on healthier and high-quality meal solutions.

During the year, we scaled more of our main categories to be sold in more markets and strengthened our market positions across the markets. We launched a number of consumer campaigns focusing on our quality products. Consumers are spending less and less time in the kitchen preparing meals. We try to compensate with easy and healthy meal solutions.

Danish Crown

The business unit Danish Crown and Danish Crown Beef process the raw materials from our farmer owners in Denmark into food sold both at home and abroad, supported by the trading company ESS-FOOD.

47,453 Revenue (DKKm)

Revenue growth was driven by price increases as volumes were down 6% on last year. The lower volumes were mainly driven by lower supply of pigs in Denmark

2020/21: 41,503

2021/22: 45,153

1,345 EBIT (DKKm)

EBIT was negatively impacted by a mixture of lower volumes leading to a less effective use of production capacity and a high level of inflation. Sales price increases partly compensated for this.

2020/21: 1,509

9 2021/22: 1,449

12,005 Employees

During the year we closed two production facilities in Denmark and Germany and simplified our supporting processes. This meant that we said goodbye to 1,100 employees.

2020/21: 12,284

2021/22: 12,887

In all our product ranges, we are focusing on making our products more sustainable and based on raw materials from farms with high animal welfare standards. This is an ongoing focus for us, and we are continuously working to further improve our efforts in this area.

In a year of increasing raw meat prices for our processed products business, we had to work closely with our customers on ways to overcome this challenge. The time lag between the sudden increase in meat prices and the implementation of sales price protection efforts across the value chain impacted our profitability in the short term.

Despite challenging market conditions with dwindling supply and continued inflationary pressures, we were able to raise the prices we paid our farmer owners during the year. However, they were still lower than the prices paid by our European competitors.

Adapting to fewer pigs

The continuing decrease in pig supply in all European countries increased our focus on balancing production capacity to maintain satisfactory efficiency at our production sites. We decided to close the Danish Sæby abattoir in June. In Germany, we decided to transfer our deboning activities in Boizenburg to our abattoir in Essen to reap the rewards of having our German deboning activities under one roof.

In order to make the Danish supply chain more efficient with the right capacity relative to the availability of Danish pigs, we introduced a new model for cooperation between our farmer owners and the company. Farmers are now providing us with estimates of their pig supply for the next 12 months so that we can plan production capacity accordingly. We expect this to support a more stable production flow in the coming year, during which our owners have committed to deliver 11 million pigs to us.

We entered the year with rising inflation, primarily in energy and raw materials, but energy prices in particular dropped again early in the year. However, the collective labour agreements reached across Europe in the spring have resulted in increasing payroll costs, which in turn have increased our focus on harvesting further efficiency gains across our supply chain to improve our competitiveness and thereby the prices we can pay our farmer owners.

These optimisation activities have had a significant impact in terms of adjusting our supply chain and overall cost base to the new supply situation while keeping a flexible production set-up and supply chain which can adapt to shifts in demand and market conditions.

Organic pork

In the Danish market, Friland offers a selection of premium organic beef and pork, showcased through distinguished brands including Friland Organic, Friland Free Range Pork and Friland Beef. Additionally, we provide our high-quality meat products for private-label purposes, as well as for butcher's shops, food service and foodprocessing companies.

A substantial portion of Friland's production finds its way to the global market, solidifying our position as a prominent supplier of organic meat to processing companies.

Positive growth for Danish Crown Beef

Volatile prices were also a challenge in the beef market, which needed to find a new balance coming off very high levels in 2021/22, when demand for beef peaked.

We also saw capacity being adjusted by competitors in more markets, which meant that we were able to keep the number of animals slaughtered at acceptable levels despite a general reduction in the number of slaughter animals. Both Danish and German farmers actively chose Danish Crown Beef. In Germany, we saw a decrease in slaughter animals of 2.4%, which was on par with the decrease in the market. In Denmark, our share of total slaughter animals increased by 1% in a declining market.

Danish Crown Beef has strong product and concept solutions. Through innovation and branding, we added popular new products to the counter. We introduced a new European heifer concept, Norland, which was well received in Germany and Southern Europe. Burger BOOST saw another record year, with sales growth of 83%.

We were able to offer our farmers competitive prices. This was made possible by a high level of production and process improvements, which partially compensated for inflation-driven cost increases.

Working with sustainability and traceability is high on the agenda in our hide business Scan-Hide, which is the front-runner in the leather industry in creating transparency from farm to final furniture, shoe or handbag. This contributed to the positive performance we saw at Scan-Hide.

ESS-FOOD overcomes turbulence

ESS-FOOD once again demonstrated its agility in a turbulent world where prices varied significantly between markets. There was a notable increase in sales in the European market. Although volumes were lower revenue was up compared to 2021/22. We continue to work hard to find new opportunities with new customers, new products and new markets.

Burger BOOST

Burger BOOST is in the same league as the dry-aged burger when it comes to flavour. Burger BOOST features patties made exclusively from beef brisket, which imparts a completely different level of richness to the burger. This is because it is a cut of meat known for its robust and distinctive taste, a quality that many are familiar with from classic slow-cooked beef dishes.

Sustainability

Sustainability is increasingly part and parcel of daily life. We will continue our efforts to assist farmers in making the production of slaughter animals more sustainable, while ensuring that consumers have more sustainable products to choose from. This includes finding new technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are currently working with three of our Danish farmers on flaring methane gas collected from slurry tanks, which could reduce carbon emissions per kilo of pork by 10-20%. If the tests are successful, the technology will be rolled out across more farms in the coming years.

With all of our Danish pig farmers already enrolled on our Climate Track sustainability programme (see page 36), we have now also onboarded 500 of our German pig suppliers. The programme helps farmers work more systematically on sustainability initiatives and supports our strategic initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We also strive continuously to reduce carbon emissions from our production facilities through investments and process optimisations.

Furthermore, we have teamed up with other large Danish companies to establish a climate-neutral transport corridor for our products from Denmark to the UK. The lessons learned from this pioneering initiative will be very valuable in ensuring that we achieve our sustainability objectives.

Adapting to new market conditions in Sokołów

Sokołów has a strong position in the Polish market. The year brought continuing reductions in the supply of pigs and cattle for slaughter, leading to a steep increase in raw material prices. Together with high consumer price inflation and consumer recession, this affected consumer behaviour and choices in stores, and we had to work hard to adapt to the new market conditions.

Highly competitive Polish market

Consumer price inflation remained high into 2023 after a record 2022, peaking at 18%, and many cost drivers saw even greater increases - energy prices more than doubled and food prices climbed 20-30%. This resulted in consumers trying to save money by reducing their consumption of meat, switching to cheaper products (private label and lower-quality products) and channels (discount chains), and hunting for promotions. We also saw a significant decline in the food service sector, as people reduced their holiday budgets and cut back on eating out. This situation was attentively handled by the big discount chains, which not only increased the market share of their own brands but also drove a hard bargain with producers, forcing them to accept much lower margins.

Reacting to this market situation, Sokołów's own stores took steps to increase sales and improve the profitability of individual shops. We gradually rolled out a strategy of raising the standard of customer service and offering a wide range of premium products and services, including products from local smokehouses and combi steamers and other services. We also increased online sales.

Intensifying competition in the Polish market was also reflected in an increasing number of marketing campaigns and other consumer retention initiatives, both from the big retail chains and from small local store groupings. We made similar efforts ourselves to defend the position of the Sokołów brand through marketing activities and campaigns.

We continued to develop the Sokoliki product range dedicated to children, adding several new choices and running a number of media campaigns and competitions.

Sokołów

Sokołów is a leading food company in Poland based on raw materials from Polish pigs and cattle. Products are sold to customers and directly to consumers through our 300 stores. Sokołów is the best-known meat brand in Poland.

9,098 Revenue (DKKm)

Revenue growth was driven by price increases as volumes were down 4% on last year. The lower volumes were driven by a change in consumer behaviour due to high inflation on the Polish market.

2020/21: 7,105

2021/22: 8,238

194 EBIT (DKKm)

Our EBIT came under pressure with high inflation in a highly competitive Polish market making it difficult fully to compensate the increased costs by increasing sales prices.

2020/21: 306

2021/22: 310

7,947 Employees

We lowered the number of employees reflecting the lower production and the increased efficiency and automation in our production sites.

2020/21: 8,397

2021/22: 8,166

A branding campaign for Sokołów in general was launched, along with sales support initiatives targeting kabanos and other meat snacks, including on social media. We also updated our barbecue product range with innovative new products - both meat and plantbased products targeting flexitarians and vegetarians.

Despite all the good initiatives, the fierce competition in a difficult market negatively impacted our earnings for 2022/23.

Polish market for raw materials

Polish farmers were increasingly squeezed by inflation. Prices for pigs also rose 40%, but farmers still reduced herds due to the uncertainty, leading to a significant reduction in the production of Polish pigs. Production fell a further 7% during the year after falling 7% the previous year.

Bans on the export of Polish meat products to certain markets remained in force due to the continuing presence of African Swine Fever. At EU level, production continued to stockpile, the market remained oversaturated. Locally, cheaper meat mainly from Spain, Belgium and Germany continued to be recognised by Polish companies as the more profitable option for further processing.

In the beef market, we saw many new players emerge and a higher level of activity among existing producers, resulting in increased competition. Combined with higher cattle prices, this made it difficult to generate strong earnings in the segment.

Overall, these trends resulted in rising raw material prices for the processing business, soaring energy prices, higher payroll costs and a general increase in inflation. Combined with growing competition in the Polish market, this placed significant demands on the agility and adaptability of the business. The Sokotow team launched an extensive efficiency programme focusing on energy savings, labour efficiency and waste reduction to support our financial performance.

Sustainability agenda

We intensified our commitment to sustainable development during the year with work on environmental protection, sustainable pig and cattle breeding, health and safety at work, consumer education on the nutritional properties of meat and social issues. Our ambition is to be seen as an environmentally and socially responsible company that works in partnership with its stakeholders.

Projects include the deployment of renewable energy sources in the form of solar panels. The first stage of this project was implemented at our Sokołów Podlaski, Koło, Czyżew, Osie, Robakowo and Dębica facilities. Sokołów is also continuing to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, enhance on-site infrastructure, deploy heating management upgrades and recover heat from production equipment and cooling systems. Cutting-edge heat recovery systems also allow reductions in water and electricity consumption. These benefits stem from solutions such as closed circuits for water in packaging systems and rationalising the use of water in cooling systems and water treatment stations.

In 2022, all production facilities phased in the ISO 45001 system in line with our strategic goal of improving on-site working conditions and reducing accident rates. We are also carrying out an in-depth study of occupational health and safety performance, sharing experience, insights and best practices across the organisation. Other key items on our agenda are lowering the frequency of musculoskeletal disorders among our employees and reducing their daily noise exposure.

Kabanos sausage

Kabanos, also known as cabanossi or Kabana, is a long, thin sausage usually made of pork that originated in Poland. It is smoky in flavour and can be soft or very dry in texture. Typically, it is quite long, 60 cm, but very thin, with a diameter of around 1 cm and folded in two, giving it a characteristic appearance.

Kabanos sausage is commonly found on charcuterie boards and as an ingredient in various Polish dishes.

KLS grows in a challenging market

We continued to generate volume and revenue growth in our Swedish business in a market where inflation is pushing consumers towards private label and processed products.

Consumers retain a strong preference for Swedish origin

Inflation had a firm grip on the Swedish economy in 2022/23, settling at a higher level than in many other EU markets. This increasingly pushed consumers towards private label and processed products, which was good news for volumes at KLS given its core focus on private label production and strategic growth in processed products.

The increase in consumer prices was also reflected in the prices paid to farmers, which stabilised during the year at high levels. The number of pigs coming to slaughter fell far less than in the rest of the EU. With reinvestment on farms at critically low levels, the number of pigs is expected to continue to decline. The value of Swedish pigs should hold up, however, thanks to consumers' strong preference for meat of Swedish origin. This will to a certain extent reduce the negative impact of the export bans that were imposed on Swedish meat in September due to outbreak of African Swine Fever in Sweden. Inflation and a weak currency pushed up costs, especially for raw materials, transport and energy. We worked hard to adapt to the new market situation and increased our selling prices, but we did not succeed fully in compensating for the increase in our cost base. Consequently, earnings were down compared to previous years.

Growing market share

We grew our Swedish business during the year in terms of revenue. To support this growth, we invested in production efficiency at our largest abattoir in Kalmar, Sweden and in product development. We broadened our range and our customer base for soups, meal components and convenience products.

This growth also means that we need to step up our sustainability initiatives throughout the value chain. We worked during the year on enrolling suppliers of slaughter animals in the Swedish version of Climate Track (KLS Gaarddata), which now includes 85% of our Swedish pig farmers and suppliers. The programme not only supports Swedish farmers in their sustainability work but also supports our strategic carbon reduction targets.

KLS

The food company KLS is a market leader in Swedish meat production based on raw materials from Swedish pigs and cattle. KLS has four abattoirs and four cold cuts and processing facilities in Sweden.

5,723 Revenue (DKKm)

While volumes were stable price increases drove up revenue. Product mix changed towards more processed products and more private label.

2020/21: 4,807

2021/22: 5,514

132 EBIT (DKKm)

We implemented sales price increases in the market to reflect the high inflation impact on our cost base together with a weak currency. Still, EBIT was negatively impacted by the increased costs.

2020/21: 175

2021/22: 156

1,230 Employees

We reduced the number of contract workers and employed own staff instead - both in the fresh and in the processed part of the business.

2020/21: 1,055

2021/22: 1,173

Earnings normalise at DAT-Schaub

Our DAT-Schaub business had another good year with record-high revenue, but earnings normalised at a lower level after a record-breaking 2021/22.

Earnings were strong at the beginning of the year but faced headwinds towards the end of the year as the inflation crisis eroded demand from customers and consumers.

Maintaining our market position required very close contact with our customers. In this situation, our presence in many of the local markets proved a real advantage. We nevertheless saw margins decrease due to fierce competition, especially for natural casings. This was partly offset by higher earnings from stomachs sold in Asian markets.

Access to raw materials from pigs came under pressure from reduced slaughter volumes across Europe. Growth in North and South America was unable to compensate fully for this, but we managed to maintain our strong market position in hog casings based on raw materials from both Europe and the Americas.

There was again a high share of raw materials from markets outside Denmark, and the reduction in Danish slaughter animals meant that Danish raw materials were reduced. The reduced availability of raw materials demonstrates the importance of having a geographically broad raw material base and avoiding dependence on a few countries.

We collaborated continuously with existing and new suppliers in order to maximise the value of DAT-Schaub's raw materials. This included our mucosa and raw heparin business, where we anticipate a more volatile market in the coming year.

We also worked on our sustainability initiatives during the year. To support our strategic goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we installed solar cells at our site in Alandroal, Portugal, which will produce the bulk of the electricity needed for production during the daytime.

In April 2023, DAT-Schaub acquired 70% of SELO, which is among the leading suppliers of artificial casings for sausage producers in the Benelux countries. An unchanged management team will continue as minority shareholders in the company. We will continue to grow our market position both organically and through acquisitions, including to safeguard our supply of raw materials.

DAT-Schaub

DAT-Schaub is a global business which processes and sells natural and artificial casings for the food industry and ingredients for the pharmaceutical industry.

5,326 Revenue (DKKm)

Higher prices for our products were able to compensate for the lower volumes resulting in a flat revenue development. Towards the end of the year, we started to see pressure on sales prices in some of our categories.

2020/21: 4,873

2021/22: 5,306

961 EBIT (DKKm)

As expected, our EBIT came out below last year's record high result. Margins were reduced due to fierce competition.

2020/21: 1,002

2021/22: 1,111

3,929 Employees

We increased our selection capacity in China and thereby increasing the total number of employees.

2020/21: 3,550

2021/22: 3,738

Group key figures

Declining pig production affects our results

A sharp drop in European pig production affected our results in several areas.

Increased market value of our products resulted in a 5% increase in revenue to DKK 68 billion, while volumes decreased by 9%.

Volumes were pulled down first and foremost by a reduced supply of animals for slaughter, especially in Denmark where supplies from our farmer owners were down 17% on 2021/22.

These lower volumes led to rising prices for slaughter animals in the European market. Furthermore, persistently high inflation pushed up our wages and other costs. We therefore worked actively on increasing the sales value of our products - work which has continued into 2023/24.

Increasing product sales value is seen not only for products based on Danish raw materials but also for our products in the Swedish and Polish markets. However, this was not enough to cover rising production costs.

The drop in volumes led to a reduction in distribution costs of 7%. Despite efficiency gains in administrative functions to compensate for higher wages and severance costs, administrative expenses increased by 4%, due partly to increasing IT costs for both ordinary operations and projects.

Income from associates decreased because of a lower result at Daka Denmark A/S.

Overall, operating profit before special items (EBIT) decreased by DKK 0.5 billion.

Efficiency initiatives in our value chain resulted in facility closures in Denmark and Germany and streamlining of support functions. This led to one-off costs of DKK 0.2 billion, which have been reported under special items.

Financial expenses increased by DKK 0.3 billion as a result of higher interest rates and slightly increased debt.

We realised profit after tax of DKK 1.5 billion compared to DKK 2.2 billion in 2021/22. This was below expectations. We expect to return to normal profit levels in the coming year. Reference is made to Outlook on page 30.

Assets

Total assets decreased by DKK 0.3 billion, due partly to a DKK 0.3 billion decrease in working capital following our concerted efforts to reduce the amount of capital tied up in inventories and receivables.

We invested DKK 1.9 billion during the year mainly in property, plant and equipment and added lease assets of DKK 0.2 billion, making total investments of DKK 2.1 billion, which is DKK 0,5 billion more than depreciation and impairment for the year. The single largest investment was made in the UK as part of our strategic focus on bacon. We also invested more than DKK 0.8 billion in Denmark as well as a three-figure million sum in our facilities both in Poland and Germany.

Equity

Equity decreased by DKK 0.5 billion to DKK 7.7 billion during the year, due mainly to extraordinary pay-outs of a share of cooperative owner's accounts in December 2022 and ordinary pay-outs when farmers leave the cooperative. This pulled the solvency ratio down to 26.7%.

Liabilities

Net interest-bearing debt grew by DKK 0.5 billion to DKK 13.1 billion as a result of increased investments and pay-outs to owners.

Financial gearing climbed from 2.9 to 3.3, which is above our long-term target of 3.0. Gearing has decreased in the last months of the year and is expected to return to the long-term target level in the coming year.

Our financing structure is based predominantly on credit facilities with a life of more than one year. 70% of interest-bearing debt was non-current at the end of the year, down from 75%.

The share of interest-bearing debt maturing more than five years from the balance sheet date decreased from 17% to 14%. Fixed-rate loans accounted for around 18% of total loans, compared to 23% at the end of 2021/22.

We raised loans in the European corporate bond market during the year where the size of the interest margin over the life of the loan depends on performance against our annual commitments under the Science Based Targets initiative. We expect to see this more often for future loans.

Cash flows

Cash flow from operating activities improved significantly to DKK 3.4 billion, thanks to the reduction in working capital. Despite higher selling prices for our products, we managed to reduce the amount of capital tied up in inventories and receivables. We believe it may be possible to reduce working capital further, and something we will focus on in the coming year.

We invested DKK 1.9 billion in property, plant and equipment during the year and paid out DKK 1.9 billion to our farmer owners and to non-controlling interests in group companies. In total our net interest-bearing debt has increased by DKK 0.5 billion.

Outlook for 2023/24

As we project our financial performance for the upcoming year, we anticipate several key trends and strategies that will shape our journey going forward.

Market dynamics

The year 2023/24 is expected to see a continued decrease in slaughter animal production across Europe. While the pace of decline in slaughter pig production is anticipated to be moderate compared to 2022/23, the overall trend remains downward. These shifts in production may impact our supply chain and pricing strategies.

A certain level of inflation is expected to persist, albeit with a decreasing trend in most markets. This is likely to result in a more stable and less turbulent market environment compared to the past year. However, markets will continue to be fiercely competitive, with discerning customers and consumers placing significant emphasis on pricing, quality and sustainability considerations.

Financial outlook

Our commitment to the Feeding the Future strategy remains unwavering. We will focus on adding value to our products and delivering sustainable, high-quality food offerings. This approach aligns with evolving consumer preferences and market demands for environmentally responsible products.

Price increases initiated during 2022/23 are anticipated to persist in the new year. As a result, we expect our revenue to remain stable in the range of DKK 68-70 billion in 2023/24.

The business simplification and transformation initiatives announced in late 2022/23 will be executed in the coming year. These efforts are expected to yield significant cost savings, although some of the gains may be offset by ongoing inflation. However, we project an increase in EBIT, returning to earlier levels, within the range of DKK 2.5-3.0 billion.

We remain committed to reducing our net working capital, with a target of decreasing our average net working capital days by 1-2 days. This will positively impact our gearing ratio, and we anticipate getting back to be below our target of 3.0.

Non-financial outlook

Our commitment to sustainability as part of our strategy will remain as we continue work on achieving our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals. We have approved sciencebased targets within greenhouse gas reductions and we aim to reduce our emissions within scope 1, 2 and 3 to reach 16-20% for scope 1 and 2 and 8-10% for scope 3 compared to base-year (2019/2020). Furthermore, we aspire to reach a milestone by ensuring that 50-55% of soy used in our value chain is deforestation- and conversion-free.

Forward-looking statements

Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the group's actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied on as a prediction of actual results.

^* Our scope 3 emissions per output produced have decreased 8% in 2021/22 compared to base-year (2019/20).

Identifying and mitigating our key risks

At Danish Crown, enterprise risk management plays a crucial role in identifying and mitigating risks that could significantly impact the group. Our risk management process encompasses commercial, strategic and operational risks, with compliance and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks integrated into the business risks.

Risk management process and top management commitment

By adopting a bottom-up approach, we involve executive management, risk owners and relevant group functions to ensure a thorough risk identification process.

The Executive Management Team is responsible for overseeing the risk management process, driving risk awareness and establishing a riskaware culture across the group.

Risk identification

Within each of our business units, the Executive Management Team identifies significant risks, assigns risk owners and formulates mitigating actions. Additionally, relevant group functions contribute by identifying key risks within their respective areas as well as risk owners and mitigating actions. The ESG and compliance risks are integrated into the business risks identified.

Consolidation and validation

Following the initial risk identification, the risks are consolidated based on their impact, likelihood and commonality. Mitigating actions and risk owners are also integrated into this consolidation phase. The Executive Management Team then approves the consolidated risks for final sign-off by the Board of Directors.

Implementation and review

Mitigating actions are implemented throughout the year, ensuring continuous risk mitigation efforts. Additionally, a central review of the risks and the progress of related mitigating actions takes place twice a year. This review allows us to assess the effectiveness of the risk management process and make necessary adjustments if required.

Operational risk

A Decreasing raw material base

Probability: Very likely

Impact: Critical

Risk description and impact

As a cooperative, owned by Danish farmers, we are exposed to fluctuations in our owners' supply of livestock for slaughter. However, we are also exposed in other markets where we source livestock for slaughter. The increasing level of regulatory requirements and higher production costs in farming may impose greater financial pressure on our farmer owners, leading to a decrease in the number of pigs available and lower capacity utilisation in our abattoirs.

Risk mitigation

We are committed to rightsizing our slaughtering and deboning capacity to match the lower supply of pigs, and we constantly strive to improve efficiencies in our operations. We have also implemented revised payment rules to incentivise stability in the farmer owners' supply of pigs to optimise our planning operations.

B Increasing costs

Probability: Very likely

Impact: Critical

Risk description and impact

Inflationary effects impact our cost of production directly through increased prices for energy, labour, transportation, packaging materials etc. In addition, the cost per unit or kilo may also be affected through the inflationary effect at farm level, leading to lower supply of animals. We are conscious of the increasing regulatory requirements and focus on sustainability and the impacts these requirements may have across our supply chain, including farming and manufacturing operations. A potential sustainability tax on agriculture, packaging and transportation may put further financial pressure on our supply chain and farmer owners.

Risk mitigation

Production excellence initiatives across all business units to increase effectiveness and reduce costs. Proactive procurement initiatives, including scale benefits, and active hedging strategies to reduce volatility. Effective price management aims to ensure sustainable margins. The financial effects of potential new taxation initiatives can be (partially) mitigated by a continued reduction of our greenhouse gas emissions.

C IT security breach

Probability: Possible

Impact: Critical

Risk description and impact

We rely on well-functioning IT systems to support our operations. As a consequence, we are exposed to the threat of a cyber attack resulting in unauthorised access to or breakdown in our IT systems. This may have serious consequences for our entire supply chain operations and for the protection of confidential data, and may lead not only to a financial loss but also to a loss of reputation. The risk may increase over time given the evolving nature of cyber attacks.

Risk mitigation

We have a robust IT security control framework in place and an Information Security Board considering the level of threats. Mitigating measures include the implementation of our IT Security Roadmap and our implementation programme for the Network and Information Security 2 (NIS2) Directive. In case of a breach in IT security, the group has business continuity and disaster recovery plans in place.

D Food safety incident

Probability: Possible

Impact: High

Risk description and impact

As a food company we are obliged to comply with all relevant food safety requirements. We are mindful that our leading market positions depend on our ability to maintain a very high level of food safety and quality in our production, thereby meeting our customers' and consumers' requirements for safe food products. Due to the inherent nature of our manufacturing operations, we are exposed to the risk of an accidental raw material or product contamination. A food safety incident or undetected food hazard may have a significant financial and reputational impact and invoke regulatory sanctions and penalties, including product recall and restrictions in operations.

Risk mitigation

Working to ensure high food safety is an integrated part of our daily operations. It is a focal point across our supply chain. We have robust food quality and safety processes and procedures in place throughout the supply chain conforming to all relevant standards and regulations. Our employees are dedicated to food quality and safety, controls and traceability, ensuring high food safety standards. We continuously monitor the effectiveness of our food safety programmes and procedures.

Commercial risk

E Changing consumer and customer demand

Probability: Very likely

Impact: Critical

Risk description and impact

The economy in the markets where we operate may deteriorate, leading to consumers trading down to lower-tier products. Also, changes in food consumption patterns in some countries due to consumers' increased focus on sustainability, animal welfare and health may negatively affect consumer demand for meat and meat-based products. The regulatory changes and the increasing expectations from our key stakeholders - including banks, customers and consumers - drive the need for proactive change. In addition, we operate in highly competitive markets with a need for constant product innovation and focus on meeting emerging consumer trends.

Risk mitigation

We strongly believe that meat is a relevant source of protein. Our communication strategy supports our view that better meat and meat-based products are part of a healthy, sustainable and balanced diet. By securing strong consumer insights we ensure that our product offerings match consumer demands. Through innovation we can adapt to changes in consumer preferences and food consumption trends. In addition, we recognise the urgent need to address the effects of our operations on climate change and sustainability in general and strive to improve our production efficiency, reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, decrease reliance on soy feed on farms and create more sustainable packaging to foster sustainable growth.

F Biosecurity incident

Probability: Possible

Impact: Critical

Risk description and impact

As a global food company biosecurity is an inherent risk to our business. An incident of disease or infection in livestock may impact our supply chain, farming and manufacturing operations, resulting in financial losses. An outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRS) may affect the free movement of livestock and lead to restrictions on the export of products from the EU.

Risk mitigation

We have both preventive and remedial plans in place for the most significant biosecurity risks and have implemented relevant measures at our production facilities. We support and comply with all regulatory requirements.

Sustainability statements

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) topics are becoming ever more prominent on both our own agenda and the agenda of our stakeholders. Our Sustainability statements present our progress on these topics based on our materiality assessment.

Working with our most material sustainability topics

Our work with sustainability is guided by our strategy and our materiality assessment. We carry out a materiality assessment to identify our most significant Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) impacts, risks and opportunities. The process covers both our own operations and our value chain. We use the conclusions to prioritise our sustainability efforts and reporting.

Identifying and assessing our impacts, risks and opportunities

The process of identifying material impacts, risks and opportunities begins with our general business context, including our value chain, key stakeholders and the sustainability challenges facing the industry as a whole.

To help identify potential impacts, we analyse external stakeholder requirements and expectations using both in-house analysis and external sustainability frameworks and ratings such as Sedex, EcoVadis and SBTi. We also take account of existing and coming national and EU legislation, questionnaires and enquiries coming from customers worldwide and our ongoing dialogue with research institutions and universities, NGOs, trade associations, etc. To assess the materiality of the impacts identified, we estimate their severity and likelihood using a combination of data, subjective evaluations and proxies for materiality such as the attention a topic gets from key stakeholders.

Risks are identified and assessed primarily through our enterprise risk management process, in which ESG risks are integrated (see page 31). Opportunities are analysed partly on the basis of customer requirements and surveys as well as existing consumer research.

Our 2022/23 materiality assessment confirmed the topics identified in the previous year's assessment.

Materiality assessment going forward

We plan to strengthen our work on double materiality, looking at how our business impacts sustainability and how sustainability impacts our business. As standards for materiality assessment evolve, we will work towards applying the full framework for materiality assessment to ensure compliance with the EU Corporate Social Responsibility Directive.

Reducing our environmental impact

We take a systematic approach to environmental challenges and are committed to taking action to protect the environment and combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from both our own operations and our value chain.

Climate

We have set ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from both our own operations and our value chain (see page 16). A key part of achieving our climate ambitions is to increase our use of renewable energy sources and investigate green transport options, and in 2022/23 our scope 1 and 2 emissions decreased by 10% compared to 2021/22. As the greatest potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions lies with farmers, we are also actively involved in a variety of development projects together with relevant partners aimed at finding ways of reducing emissions at farm level (see page 37), and in 2021/22 our scope 3 emissions per output produced decreased by 4% compared to 2020/21.

Another important element of our efforts to reduce our climate impact is to enable customers and consumers to make informed choices about sustainability by communicating our climate impact in a clear, consistent and data-driven way. We have developed a model for life cycle assessment (LCA). Part of the model has already been third-party verified. The rest of the model will be verified in 2023/24. The model enables us to calculate not only the carbon footprint per kg of meat, but also the carbon footprint of specific selected products using data from specific suppliers, abattoirs, processing facilities and transport companies.

Water

We strive constantly to identify new ways to minimise water consumption and reduce the organic matter in wastewater from our production and cleaning processes. In 2022/23, we invested in a new wastewater treatment plant at our production facility in Osie, Poland, which will result in a significant reduction in chemical oxygen demand (COD) for the site. We also implemented new processes and machinery to minimise water consumption when dehairing pigs at our production facility in Blans, Denmark, leading to a large decrease in water consumption per pig, and we are working on further reductions. Overall, we reduced our water consumption by 4% in 2022/23 compared to 2021/22.

Waste and resource use

Innovative and circular solutions to reduce waste are key, and we are constantly looking out for new opportunities. For example, we have changed the palletisation of "kupan salami", leading to a yearly saving of around 1,000 transport pallets and improving transport and logistics for both Danish Crown and our customers. Overall, we have increased the share of waste that is recovered from 25% in 2021/22 to 28% in 2022/23, moving us closer to our target of recovering 80% of our waste by 2029/30.

As a food company, we have a special focus on food waste. We take good care of our raw materials and engage in innovation and development activities to use as much as possible for edible products. If it is practically and economically viable to sell our by-products for human consumption, we ensure that our production process is organised in such a way that these parts of the animals are separated from the inedible parts and treated in a way that maintains product quality and food safety. A significant part of food waste occurs when our products have left production facilities, and we are looking at minimising food waste in our downstream value chain, for example in Poland, where selected Sokołów stores are working with Too Good To Go to prevent food waste.

Packaging

Rethinking packaging is an important part of minimising the environmental impact of our resource use. In 2022, we finalised a new packaging strategy with targets for reduction, recyclable materials, recycled content, certification and phasing out hard-to-recycle materials. In 2022/23, our packaging volume remained stable at 27 kg per tonne produced. An example of how we will work with this is our plan to introduce a new line for diced bacon at our production facility in Haarlem, the Netherlands, enabling a change from thermo foil trays to flow packs estimated to use 60% less plastic.

Climate Track

Climate Track is our sustainability programme for farmers supplying slaughter animals to Danish Crown. Farmers participating in the programme cooperate with us on our targets for scope 3 emissions and, depending on the country and animal type, support our ambitions for animal welfare, social responsibility and biodiversity.

The farmers share production and sustainability data with Danish Crown. In return, they receive individual data on their sustainability performance compared to a Danish Crown national average as well as input on key activity areas that can lower their greenhouse gas emissions. On this basis, they set their own emission reduction targets.

In 2022/23, we enrolled more Swedish and German pig farmers in Climate Track, and 85% and 15% of our contract suppliers of pigs in these markets are now enrolled. All of our Danish pig farmers and farmers supplying to the "Dansk Kalv" concept were already enrolled in Climate Track.

Animal welfare

We work not only with our farmer owners and other suppliers of slaughter animals but also with researchers and organisations in the agricultural sector to promote animal health and welfare. Care and respect for animals is crucial to ensuring that Danish Crown can produce high-quality food products. We are guided by our Animal Welfare Policy, and annually follow up on our progress in our Animal Welfare Position Statement and Welfare Outcome Measure Reporting, where, for example, we report on close confinement and transport time. In addition, animal welfare requirements are set out in our Codes of Practice (read more on page 39).

Biodiversity

Our work on biodiversity is still in its development phase and has two focus areas: encouraging the use of responsible soy and palm oil in our supply chain, and rolling out the biodiversity parameters of Climate Track to more farmers to strengthen our baseline for further development of our biodiversity work in the future.

We strengthened our targets for responsible sourcing in 2022/23 in view of the coming EU legislation on deforestation. Our new target is for all of the farmer owners and other suppliers of slaughter animals to use 100% responsibly produced soy and palm oil in feed from 2025. As cooperation is key to achieving responsible supply chains for soy and palm oil, we are participating in several stakeholder initiatives in this area in Denmark and Sweden, and are looking into joining the Dialogue Forum for More Sustainable Protein Feed in Germany.

In addition to the information presented above, you can read about our environmental activities and performance in the target and activity overview on pages 53-57 and on our website www.danishcrown.com.

Sustainability parameters in Climate Track

The figure shows examples of the parameters for which farmers in Climate Track collect data. Currently, the parameters for which a particular farmer collects data depend on their country and animal type.

Climate

Biodiversity

Animal welfare

Social responsibility

Partnering for future climate solutions

Carbon sequestration in the field

We are participating in a Danish research project which aims to increase carbon storage and reduce nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emissions by creating multi-year pasture areas instead of annual crop rotations. After trials demonstrated that, as expected, standard arable crop rotations do not store carbon, the project will now focus on determining which types of crop and crop rotation contribute to higher storage of carbon.

Methane capture

We are participating in a number of development projects to limit methane emissions from manure storage. In 2022/23, we began working with a partner on a project to conduct large-scale testing of flaring technology where methane gas from slurry tanks is collected and converted into CO ₂ , which has a significantly lower impact on the climate. Three farms have already been identified for further testing in 2024.

Nitrification inhibitors

Together with partners, we have launched a pilot project to investigate the use of nitrification inhibitors in feed grain cultivation. Initial tests have already demonstrated that the inhibitors can reduce CO ₂ e emissions from pigs, and the goal of the project is to provide large-scale documentation of the effect. In 2022/23, 75 pig farmers with more than 20,000 hectares of land participated in tests as part of the project. Based on the results of these tests, the project will be evaluated and next steps planned.

Extracting grass protein

We are part of the Dansk Protein Innovation partnership and involved in its Bio Value research project to find a profitable method of extracting protein from grass. Some of our farmer owners have already tested grass protein as an alternative to soy in feed. The project is still in the process of finding ways to scale up production.

Green Fertilizer Denmark

Danish Crown and other large Danish cooperatives in the agricultural sector have founded the company Green Fertilizer Denmark, which will carry out a feasibility study to clarify whether there is a basis for establishing Danish production of green fertilisers.

Improving conditions for people in our value chain

We are committed to respecting human and labour rights throughout our value chain. Likewise, we want to contribute to good meals for consumers based on high quality, sustainability, food safety and animal welfare.

We respect human and labour rights in all our operations and activities and recognise our responsibility to avoid any kind of violation of human and labour rights in our value chain. We have incorporated the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work of the International Labour Organization into our Code of Conduct, ESG Policy, Supplier Code of Conduct and Codes of Practice for livestock suppliers.

We work to identify actual and potential negative impacts on human and labour rights from our operations and to prevent or mitigate any adverse impact that is directly linked to our operations or business activities. Going forward, we will continue our efforts to ensure compliance with human and labour rights legislation by translating requirements into actions, developing systems and driving continuous improvements. Among other things, we will develop and implement a human and labour rights policy, establish thorough due diligence processes and continue our use of recognised tools such as Sedex and EcoVadis to assess risk and perform risk management. During 2022/23, we did not identify any breaches relating to human and labour rights through our established processes.

Creating good jobs

Our employees are our most valuable asset, and therefore we focus on training, equal opportunities, health and safety, attraction and retention, and diversity and inclusion. All with the ambition to provide good jobs. To follow our progress on this ambition we have conducted a satisfaction and engagement survey of our employees every two years since 2011. Steadily improving satisfaction scores confirm that our systematic efforts to provide an attractive workplace for all are on track.

Health and safety

Working in our industry can be physically demanding, and therefore we have a sharp focus on health and safety, particularly at our production facilities. In 2022/23, we had 31 lost-time accidents per 1,000 FTEs, which is a decrease of 29% compared to 2021/22 (described further on page 62). During 2022/23, we had a tragic incident that resulted in a work-related fatality. To prevent similar incidents in the future, we have initiated internal investigations and collaborated with all relevant stakeholders. We have revisited our Lock Out - Tag Out (LOTO) system implementation in our production facilities. The system is aimed at preventing machines from unexpectedly starting when performing maintenance and cleaning.

In general, our approach is that all accidents can be prevented by well-planned preventive efforts. To that end, we continuously optimise our health and safety processes, implement management systems, develop locally targeted programmes and improve accident registration. In 2022/23, for example, we conducted SWOT analyses at our pork and processing sites in Germany and the Netherlands to identify health and safety gaps and better target local challenges.

We also focus on reducing work related ill health, which can result, for example, from repetitive work and heavy lifting, as this entails a high risk of injuries and chronic problems such as musculoskeletal disorders. Specifically, we are investing in increasing automation, and in 2022/23 we started to work with psychomotor therapists at some of the Danish production facilities.

Equal treatment and opportunities

At Danish Crown, we believe in the power of people's different perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. As a global company employing over 25,000 people, it is crucial to have an inclusive work environment where every employee feels included, engaged and able to contribute to creating a more sustainable future for food.

25,000+ employees in 2022/23

We believe diverse and inclusive teams create a competitive advantage, demonstrated through better decision-making, enhanced well-being, increased innovation and higher performance. Diverse and inclusive teams also better reflect the composition of our customers and consumers. In 2022/23, we therefore initiated diversity training of our senior and executive managment.

In 2022/23, we continued to focus on achieving our 2030 gender diversity goals. Our board composition remained consistent with the previous year, as there were no elections for Leverandørselskabet

Danish Crown AmbA's Board of Directors. In Danish Crown A/S the two female board members were reelected. After having carefully considered the need for continuity in the board seen together with the right composition of expertise and knowledge no further female candidates were elected. The percentage therefore remained at 20%. In our Executive Management Team the composition also remains unaltered. We have seen a reduced number of female representation in Executive Vice President and Vice President leadership roles due to organisational restructuring. We continue to acknowledge the importance of fostering a more diverse and inclusive environment within our organisation and we are committed to pursuing efforts and initiatives to meet our ambitions.

Danish Crown recognises its responsibility to attract young people to the food industry. Together with other Danish organisations, we have been running a special programme in recent years to stimulate interest among young people.

We also have the ambition to support our existing employees by systematically strengthening and improving skills and nurturing talent across the group. Besides specific job-related training, we are keen to provide opportunities for more general upskilling at both fundamental and more advanced levels. We have therefore mapped the skills of 1,000 Danish hourly-paid employees, more than 100 of whom received relevant training.

GENDER DIVERSITY ON BOARDS AND IN MANAGEMENT

Responsible sourcing

We continue to work on more responsible sourcing practices and on greater integration of ESG considerations into our relations with suppliers.

Codes of Practice

We already have Codes of Practice in place for pigs, sows and cattle in Denmark and we plan to cover other livestock suppliers in Sweden, Poland and Germany as well in 2023/24.

Supplier Code of Conduct

Our Supplier Code of Conduct is aimed at non-livestock suppliers ^**. In the qualification process for our strategic sourcing programmes, new suppliers are required to accept either our Supplier Code of Conduct or an equivalent code.

For already established suppliers ^** , that are not yet covered by our Supplier Code of Conduct, we are in the process of rolling out the Code. In 2022/23, we had a total Supplier Code of Conduct acceptance of 80%, which is an increase compared to the previous year. Furthermore, if a supplier supplies products that are critical for food safety, they must complete a self-assessment questionnaire every three years. To secure the highest standards within food safety, we also conduct an annual supplier risk assessment of suppliers who potentially could impact food safety. The risk assessment is our leading indicator for selecting suppliers for audit in the following year.

Both the Codes of Practice and the Supplier Code of Conduct are based on relevant legislation and recognised international standards for the environment, animal welfare, food safety and human and labour rights, including the elimination of child and forced labour. Both codes display our commitment to the ILO conventions. To further increase transparency in our supply chain, in 2022/23 we started investigating programmes that can support us in categorising our suppliers based on ESG risk levels.

^* Long-term goal.
^** Excludes suppliers of Sokołów and DAT-Schaub.

Sustainability and consumers

Danish Crown contributes to many meals each year through different products and sees an opportunity to become even more relevant for customers and consumers by offering safe, sustainable, healthy and nutritious products.

Food safety

We strive to maintain high standards of food safety in our production and the products we deliver to customers and consumers. In 2022/23, we had 6 recalls. The foundation of our food safety work is the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach. The majority of our production facilities are also third-party-certified in relation to food safety.

We believe that food safety is about continuous training, working on the right culture and being open about potential hazards and errors to ensure that these are addressed effectively and without fear of consequences. To support this, in 2022/23 we launched a food safety and quality forum across Danish Crown to ensure knowledge sharing, opportunity identification and continuous improvements.

Product range

Together with our customers, consumers and other stakeholders, we want to move consumption and the market in a more sustainable direction. We are constantly working to identify and meet consumer trends and demands and to co-create new concepts in areas such as animal welfare and plant-based protein. Our range currently includes products with attributes that cater to consumer interests in six sustainability-related areas: climate, animal welfare, health, organic production, packaging and food waste.

Responsible marketing

As a major player in the food industry with a significant environmental footprint, our marketing and sustainability claims are subject to natural interest by external stakeholders. For example, our Climate Controlled Pig concept was criticised as being misleading and a lawsuit was filed against Danish Crown in 2021 alleging non-compliance with the Danish Marketing Practices Act. The concept was withdrawn from Danish stores in 2021. The case has not yet been concluded.

We strive to maintain high standards of food safety in our production and the products we deliver to customers and consumers.

It is important to us at Danish Crown that our claims are accurate, properly documented and comply with relevant legislation. To ensure this we have implemented an internal operating procedure for the approval of claims and conducted mandatory training sessions for relevant employees on marketing legislation, which will continue going forward.

In addition to the information presented above, you can read about our social activities and performance in the target and activity overview on pages 58-59 and on our website, www.danishcrown.com.

An active cooperative ownership

The purpose of Danish Crown is to add value for our current and future cooperative owners. Through a dual governance structure, we aim to ensure active ownership, capital for investments and stable supplies of livestock.

We operate in close cooperation with the more than 5,000 Danish farmers who own our group. Since we were founded in 1887, our business has built on the fundamental principles of the cooperative ownership, specifically that the interests of each individual farmer are best served by a jointly and efficiently run business.

Corporate governance principles

As a cooperative, Danish Crown is not under an obligation to comply with the recommendations on corporate governance that Danish listed companies must observe. We have nevertheless chosen to follow these recommendations with two exceptions:

Sustainability education

Many of the members of our Board of Directors and Executive Management have experience and expertise in overseeing sustainability matters from current or previous roles elsewhere and from their work with Danish Crown. To ensure that they have the latest knowledge in areas material to Danish Crown, we provide annual training in relevant Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters. In 2022/23, 44% of board members participated, and in 2021/22 44%. Due to the importance of sustainability for Danish Crown, many of our employees are experts in different aspects of sustainability, including animal welfare, climate and food safety. The Executive Management therefore has direct access to specialist knowledge of the sustainability topics most relevant to Danish Crown.

Members of the Board of Representatives are also offered ESG-related training. In 2022/23, 83% participated in the training.

Dual governance structure

Our cooperative ownership means that Danish Crown has a two-tier governance structure:

Our cooperative ownership builds on three pillars which strengthen both the individual farmer and Danish Crown as a business.

Active ownership

Danish Crown exists for its current and future cooperative owners. These owners actively take responsibility for their jointly owned company. Their influence over the development of the business helps ensure broad support for strategic decisions.

Capital for investments

Our ownership structure strengthens the understanding that capital needs to be in place to invest in the future - both on farms and in the group.

Stable supplies

Owners of the cooperative have both a right and a duty to supply their slaughter animals to Danish Crown, which in turn undertakes to add value and reward the cooperative owners with simple, fair and competitive settlement prices.

Leverandørselskabet Danish Crown AmbA

COOPERATIVE OWNERS

Cattle districts

Pig producer districts

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Leverandørselskabet Danish Crown AmbA is a cooperative owned by 5,737 Danish farmers. Local district meetings are held twice a year, and farmers exercise their ownership rights in the districts by electing members to the Board of Representatives every second year by the "one owner, one vote" principle.

KEY SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVITIES

Members of the cooperative are an essential part of our value chain and impact our business activities in sustainability areas such as environment and animal welfare. They work with clear guidelines and high standards in these areas. For example, they are all covered by our Codes of Practice and the DANISH Product Standard. All cooperative owners are also part of our Climate Track programme, which means they share production and sustainability data with Danish Crown. Read more on page 36.

Pig farmers report on selected sustainability data as part of their standard quotation. If they fail to do so, they get a deduction in their payment. The data they provide play an important part in reporting on greenhouse gas emissions and animal welfare.

BOARD OF REPRESENTATIVES

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

The Board of Representatives is the cooperative's supreme authority with 90 representatives elected by and from the farmers in the cooperative for a two-year period.

The Board of Representatives appoints members to the Board of Directors, and approves the annual distribution of profits based on a proposal from the Board of Directors.

Furthermore, the articles of association of AmbA are reviewed on a regular basis and changes are agreed when needed.

Quarterly meetings are held to inform about key developments in Danish Crown's strategy, operations and current status.

KEY SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVITIES

The Board of Representatives regularly discusses sustainability topics. This year, representatives attended a full-day training session on sustainability focusing on reducing scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions. This included how to implement actions and initiatives to cut emissions as part of our commitment to the SBTi. Representatives then lead discussions at district meetings to encourage other farmers to make improvements.

Board of Representatives

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

The cooperative's Board of Directors, whose members are elected for two years at a time, currently consists of ten members and one observer, all elected by and from the 90 members of the Board of Representatives. The Board of Directors is responsible for all matters related to the cooperative's owners, including procurement of livestock, and also handles matters related to capital, ownership and strategy. The Board of Directors elects the members of the Danish Crown A/S Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors has assigned tasks, but not decision-making power, to the Nomination, Compensation and Benefits Committee. This committee prepares an annual evaluation and recommendation for the Board of Directors and on the composition of Danish Crown's Boards of Directors' committees and boards, as well as their remuneration.

Chairman: Asger Krogsgaard

KEY SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVITIES

The Board of Directors supports the preparation and approval of new codes and policies impacting farmers. This year, these included the Code of Practice for Danish Cattle Farmers, the Carbon Insetting Policy, the Deforestation and Land Conversion Policy and the Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Policy.

Board of Directors

The Nomination, Compensation and Benefits Committee of the cooperative supports the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of Danish Crown A/S in setting long-term incentive programme targets on sustainability.

Nomination, Compensation and Benefits Committee

Danish Crown A/S

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

The Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing the company's business operations, development, management and financial affairs. This includes ensuring that our business is conducted in accordance with laws and regulations. The Board of Directors elects a chairman and a vice chairman who do not participate in the day-to-day management of the company.

The Board of Directors currently consists of six cooperative owners elected by the general shareholders' meeting for one year at a time, three employee representatives elected for four years at a time, and four independent external members elected by the general shareholders' meeting for one year at a time who each contributes relevant high-level expertise and experience.

The Board of Directors has assigned tasks, but not decision-making power to two committees. The Audit Committee monitors the group's accounting and auditing matters and reports significant accounting practices and estimates to the Board of Directors prior to the approval of the annual report. The need for an internal audit function is reviewed regularly, but this is not considered necessary at present. The committee also oversees the enterprise risk management and the compliance process and activities, and reports to the Board of Directors on significant issues.

Chairman: Jesper V. Christensen

The Nomination and Remuneration Committee prepares a remuneration policy and remuneration recommendations for the Executive Management each year.

Chairman: Asger Krogsgaard

KEY SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVITIES

The Board of Directors approves the sustainability strategy and updates of group codes and policies relevant for the management of our business such as the ESG Policy, the Diversity and Inclusion Policy, and the Supplier Code of Conduct.

Board of Directors

The Audit Committee, by delegation from the Board of Directors, oversees the group's ESG-related processes, including the risk and materiality assessment and the ESG reporting. The Nomination and Remuneration Committee is working on integrating ESG into the long-term incentive programme targets for members of the Executive Management.

Nomination and Remuneration Committee

Audit Committee

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

The Executive Management is responsible for the day-to-day management of the company, ensuring that resources and capital are allocated in line with the cooperative's interests, purpose and vision. The Executive Management is responsible to the Board of Directors for defining and delivering on group strategies and targets.

All members of the Executive Management work closely with, but independently of, the Board of Directors, which has issued formal instructions setting out the Executive Management's duties and responsibilities.

KEY SUSTAINABILITY ACTIVITIES

The Executive Management oversees and endorses implementation of our sustainability strategy and policies, as well as sponsoring selected high-level sustainability projects and ensuring that sustainability is a focus area across all business units and group functions.

Board of Directors and Executive Management

Leverandørselskabet

Danish Crown AmbA

Asger Krogsgaard (Chairman)

Søren Bonde

Knud Jørgen Lei

Karsten Willumsen

Thomas Kjær

Peter Fallesen Ravn

Palle Joest Andersen

Ulrik Bremholm

Michael Nielsen

Jonas Würtz Midtgård

Jorgen Larsen (Observer)

Danish Crown A/S

Asger Krogsgaard (Chairman)

Søren Bonde

Knud Jørgen Lei

Karsten Willumsen

Thomas Kjaer

Independent members

Camilla Sylvest (Vice Chairman)

Jesper V. Christensen

Søren Brink

Camilla Harder Hartvig

Members elected by the employees

Brian Vestergaard

Thomas L. W. Hansen

Henrik Redmond

Read more

Further information about our Executive Management and Board of Directors is available at danishcrown.com/organization

Executive Management

Board of Directors

^* All board members are up for election in 2023 (excluding Søren Brinck and all employee-elected members, who are up for election in 2024 and 2025 respectively).

A culture of compliance

At Danish Crown, we aim to develop and promote a compliance culture by implementing and upholding high ethical standards and accountability across the group.

Our commitments guide our actions

Our company has recognised the importance of taking voluntary action to address key issues that affect our stakeholders and the wider community. Through careful consideration, we have identified several areas where we can make a positive impact.

We continue to establish, develop and promote a corporate culture of compliance by implementing relevant policies and standards for our business conduct that reflect our commitments and satisfy applicable legislation in our countries of operation (see the overview of our commitments on page 115).

Setting high standards for conduct in our value chain

We must act as good citizens in everything we do. Our employees and others working for Danish Crown are guided by our Code of Conduct.

The Code of Conduct provides employees and management with guiding principles and values supported by policies to meet our commitment to responsible business conduct. It emphasises the importance of ethical behaviour, as well as compliance with laws and regulations.

Promoting ethical behaviour is not just about our own conduct, but also about practices in our value chain. Therefore, our farmer owners and other suppliers of live animals are guided by Codes of Practice focusing on animal welfare, as well as on labour rights and food safety and quality.

For suppliers of other goods and services that are covered by our supplier qualification process, we have a Supplier Code of Conduct covering areas such as human and labour rights, the environment and anti-corruption (described further on page 39).

Management systems are key tools

To ensure strong compliance, enhance relevant operating standards and strengthen our performance, we emphasise the importance of management systems.

Management systems play a crucial role in promoting efficiency, reducing risks and achieving organisational goals at our production facilities. They provide a structured approach to identify, assess and control potential hazards and risks associated with operations. By implementing robust management systems, we strive to enhance operational performance, protect the environment, safeguard employee health and safety, and ensure the production of safe products (see certificate coverage of our production facilities on page 62). Many of our facilities have third-party verification of their management systems.

Fighting corruption for a brighter future

Corruption is a major obstacle to economic and social development. As a global company, Danish Crown is obliged to combat corruption and bribery.

We have established a comprehensive anti-corruption compliance programme to ensure effective mitigation of corruption and bribery risks. We regularly conduct thorough risk assessments to identify and assess corruption risks globally, enabling us to perform targeted compliance activities and controls to minimise the likelihood of corruption among our employees and business partners. Read more about our anti-corruption programme on our website, www.danishcrown.com.

Our Code of Conduct sets out our stance of zero tolerance of corruption and bribery, and is supported by an Anti-corruption Policy and standards in the following areas:

We have also implemented a disclosure management system to help our employees be transparent about conflicts of interest, gifts, hospitality, travel expenses and facilitation payments.

Furthermore, we use a third-party due diligence provider to screen for confirmed incidents of corruption or bribery. This is an essential process in our compliance programme which enables us to safeguard our integrity by evaluating the reputation, integrity and ethical practices of current and potential business partners. Based on our risk assessment, we conduct a thorough screening of business partners in high-risk areas to mitigate the risks of corruption, bribery and other illicit activities.

Tax compliance

Danish Crown's published tax policy sets out four key principles for structured, systematic and effective management of our tax matters. The principles are founded in Danish Crown's activities being driven by commercial decisions. The tax policy is approved and ultimately governed by the Board of Directors.

We regularly assess our processes and controls to ensure that we comply with national and international tax standards relevant to our business. Danish Crown does not operate in tax havens as defined by the OECD and the EU.

The Danish Crown Group Tax Policy is available on our website, www.danishcrown.com.

Cooperative

The Danish-based parent company, Leverandørselskabet Danish Crown AmbA, is a cooperative owned by Danish farmers and is therefore subject to Danish rules on the taxation of cooperatives.

Danish Crown's farmer owners pay income tax in Denmark. The taxation of the cooperative reflects the fact that most of the tax liability is met by its owners, and cooperatives in Denmark pay tax based on equity. Only a small share of annual earnings is retained in the cooperative.

Tax contribution

Our activities contribute both directly and indirectly to tax liabilities in the jurisdictions where the activities are carried out. Taxes borne are direct costs for Danish Crown. Taxes collected are managed and collected by Danish Crown on behalf of public authorities.

Taxes borne are equity tax, income tax, withholding tax, property tax, employer's contributions, customs duties and other local direct and indirect taxes payable by Danish Crown as a result of our business activities, and paid directly to the local tax authorities in the countries in which we operate.

Taxes collected include personal taxes on the wages and salaries paid to the approximately 25,000 employees we have around the world. They also include VAT, withholding taxes and other local taxes collected by Danish Crown from our customers and paid to the local tax authorities.

As Danish Crown's value-creating activities are primarily located in Denmark, the tax contribution is highest in this jurisdiction. We have a significant presence in other European countries, and a substantial part of our tax contribution is paid in these jurisdictions.

Data ethics and security

Danish Crown's values are to be reflected in the way in which we collect, process and use data, and we have established a Data Ethics Policy with applicable principles. The policy describes how data ethics are considered and employed in the use of data, as well as the design and implementation of technologies used for the processing of data in the group. Training in data ethics dilemmas is provided for employees working with data and IT.

Despite the fact that we have a policy and procedures in place, a data security breach occurred in 2022/23 at one of our suppliers providing digital services, resulting in the exposure of personal data for a large number of German consumers, caused by insufficient IT security measures on the part of the supplier. We immediately investigated the incident, informed the relevant data authority and took every step to prevent similar incidents in the future. Fortunately, no misuse of the breached data seems to have occurred. Danish Crown no longer purchases services from the supplier.

Corporate and public affairs

To maintain the reputation of a trustworthy company that people wish to engage with, it is crucial that we act with integrity in everything we do. This means ensuring that the way we do business is always transparent, and that the way we communicate - with politicians, organisations, authorities and other external partners - is always open and honest.

Because of our extensive experience and expertise in the food industry, Danish Crown contributes to a wide range of initiatives and collaborates with partners and stakeholders in ways that help change society in transformative ways. For example, Danish Crown is a member of the UN Global Compact and actively engages to share best practices and insights regarding human and labour rights, the environment and anti-corruption. Such partnerships strengthen the collective by promoting ethical business practices on a broader scale.

Our contribution and public affairs activities focus particularly on the following key issues for our business: climate, sustainable and responsible sourcing of feed, animal welfare, food safety and quality, labour market, market access, energy and security policy.

Danish Crown is a non-political company, but we place great emphasis on maintaining an open dialogue with all political parties and so actively participate in business associations and relevant interest organisations across the political spectrum. Our policies prohibit the use of corporate funds to contribute to candidates, parties, political expenditure or electioneering communications. Danish Crown is included in the EU Transparency Register.

All political and lobbying activities are overseen by Danish Crown's Board of Directors and comply with Danish and European legislation. No member of Danish Crown's management or supervisory bodies has been employed by any public body in the past two years.

Whistleblowing

We encourage an open culture where everyone is free to raise concerns if they become aware of unlawful or unethical business conduct or violations of internal rules and policies. This includes bribery and corruption, food safety and quality issues, discrimination and other matters that may cause Danish Crown a financial loss, damage our reputation or have other negative impacts for our business, society and/or the people involved.

The Danish Crown whistleblower platform is a channel for anonymous reporting by employees and other stakeholders, including business partners, customers and suppliers, and is accessible from our website. We also have internal instruction videos showing how to file a report which are available throughout the group in nine languages, while the whistleblowing platform itself is available to employees and other stakeholders in 28 languages.

We are paying particular attention to further increasing internal awareness of the whistleblower platform, and we have stepped up our digital communication with employees with a special focus on the use of information screens at our production facilities.

The ongoing implementation of the EU Whistleblower Directive in member states is being followed closely. In addition to our group-level whistleblower committee, independent whistleblower committees and local whistleblower platforms have been set up at Danish Crown entities where required by national law, as is currently the case in Sweden and Portugal.

A standard procedure for handling whistleblower cases has been developed and implemented to ensure uniform and compliant case investigation according to the principles of non-retaliation, confidentiality and impartiality.

All members of a whistleblower committee are trained in the internal procedures with a particular focus on the legal requirements for the protection of the whistleblower.

We have defined internal performance indicators to monitor the timeliness of acknowledging receipt of a report and informing the whistleblower about the investigation and its outcome.

In 2022/23, 58 cases were reported in the Danish Crown whistleblower system, an increase of 176% on the previous financial year. Following investigations, 20 reports were found to be substantiated, and appropriate remedial actions were taken. These reports spanned 9 topics and 13 countries. The number and types of cases raised through the whistleblower platform are reported to the Audit Committee, the Board of Directors and senior management across the group.

No cases of corruption or bribery were reported to Danish Crown in 2022/23 through either our whistleblower platform or other channels. Nor was any legal action concerning corruption or bribery brought against the company during the reporting period.

Training and awareness

Training and awareness initiatives are crucial for fostering a culture of compliance, ensuring employee understanding of relevant policies, and mitigating risks within our organisation. By providing regular training and educational campaigns, we can enhance employee knowledge and awareness, promote ethical behaviour and address specific risks associated with their business activities. We conduct regular training and awareness campaigns for our employees in matters such as IT security, personal data protection, whistleblower procedures, anti-corruption and bribery.

As an example, all relevant employees must successfully complete an anti-corruption e-learning course as part of their onboarding and every two years thereafter. A total of 95% of relevant employees successfully completed our anti-corruption e-learning course in 2022/23. Our learning materials will be updated regularly based on the latest risk assessments and any corruption risks identified.

Employees working in high-risk areas are provided with additional training to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the potential risks associated with their business activities. These employees are identified through a risk assessment based on interviews and objective criteria (functional and country risks based on Corruption Perceptions Index scores).

In addition to training, employees can direct questions or concerns about corruption to Group Legal through a designated mailbox.

Remuneration

The remuneration of the Executive Management reflects our financial performance. Despite a relatively high quotation price paid to our owners by historical standards, we have lagged behind the European average since the beginning of the year. Clearly that is not satisfactory. The year's performance, with payments to our owners DKK 2.17 below our peer-group index, resulted in the Executive Management's cash-based long-term incentive programme ending up below threshold with no payout.

The remuneration of our Boards of Directors reflects the continued implementation and expansion of our Remuneration Policy.

In 2022/23, we included the Board of Representatives and the Danish Crown Beef Forum in the Remuneration Policy and adjusted their fees based on the multiple payment structure.

The following sections set out the key elements of the Remuneration Policy.

Remuneration Policy

The overall objective of the Remuneration Policy is to support the long-term interests and sustainability of Danish Crown. To attain this objective, the policy is designed to attract and retain suitably qualified members of the Boards of Directors and to attract, motivate and retain suitably qualified members of the Executive Management.

Remuneration of the Executive Management and the Boards of Directors should be competitive, but not market-leading, compared to remuneration at comparable Danish companies.

The policy for 2022/23 was approved by the Boards of Directors of Danish Crown A/S and Leverandørselskabet Danish Crown AmbA in August 2022.

The Executive Management

The remuneration of members of the Executive Management consists of a fixed base salary, a cash-based long-term incentive programme and other benefits.

The members of the Executive Management receive no remuneration for executive positions or directorships held in group companies.

The Boards of Directors

Each member of the Boards of Directors of Danish Crown A/S and Leverandørselskabet Danish Crown AmbA receives a fixed annual base fee. The Chairman and the Vice-Chairman receive a multiple thereof.

Members serving on the boards of subsidiaries, committees and panels receive an additional fixed annual fee.

However, the Chair of the Board of Directors of Leverandørselskabet Danish Crown AmbA receives no additional fees for sitting on board committees or subsidiary boards beyond fees for serving on the Boards of Directors of Danish Crown A/S and Leverandørselskabet Danish Crown AmbA.

ESG performance

The ESG performance section of our Sustainability statements presents our progress on the environmental, social and governance topics most relevant to Danish Crown according to our materiality assessment. Information is provided on key indicators, objectives, targets and activities for each of these topics.

Target and activity overview

Below is an overview of our policies, approach and ambitions in the different ESG areas we are working on, as well as the main activities conducted in 2022/23 and future activities planned to ensure progress in achieving our ambitions and targets.

^* Reducing hard-to-recycle materials is no longer a separate target, as it is covered by our efforts to increase recyclability.

^* We previously had the target to be ranked as Tier 2 in the 2023 BBFAW Report. Going forward, we aim to develop a new target focusing on animal welfare issues specifically related to our line of business. Currently, Danish Crown is ranked as Tier 3 based on the 2022 assessment, and a new score will be published in 2024.
^** In view of coming EU deforestation legislation and inflationary pressures, we have decided to replace our previous targets, which were specific to Denmark and Germany, with this new target covering the entire Danish Crown group.

^* We previously had a target to increase the global intake of apprentices in production and technical divisions by 20% by 2025 relative to 2018. However, it is getting increasingly difficult to find new apprentices, and we have chosen to focus on improving the quality of our apprentice training and on ensuring that there is a good match between Danish Crown and the apprentices we take on.

^** We previously had a target to reduce physical strain for the 10% most demanding production jobs in terms of musculoskeletal disorders by 2024/25. We have instead chosen to work on a target covering work-related ill health more generally.

Indicator overview

Methodology and definitions

Reporting frameworks and future reporting requirements

The sustainability statements have been inspired by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, without meeting the in-accordance criteria. In addition, the report reflects the context of future sustainability reporting requirements. We have made changes this year in preparation for compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the associated European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). One step in this year's preparations for CSRD compliance is restructuring the report around the environmental, social and governance dimensions instead of around our strategy. We have also provided additional information on governance and our materiality assessment as we work towards applying the full framework for materiality assessment set out in ESRS.

We are not yet reporting on the EU Taxonomy, as we are not covered by this legislation until 2025/26. In addition, the technical screening criteria for eligibility and alignment of activities related to the food sector have not yet been adopted.

Reporting principles and period

In our sustainability statements, we apply the fundamental and enhancing qualitative characteristics of accounting information: relevance, faithful representation, comparability, verifiability and understandability. This is supported by our internal control and validation processes, where validation takes place at both site, business unit and group level.

Our ESG data for 2022/23 cover the period from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023 to the extent possible. Some of the data included in the report are based on slightly different periods. Our basic principles for data management and reporting are unchanged relative to last year. Material changes related to specific data points are described in the data definitions.

Boundaries

Our ESG data covers abattoirs and processing facilities, casing facilities, warehouses, offices and retail stores. For offices with fewer than 25 employees, we estimate environmental data, as we deem the impact from these to be immaterial.

We apply the same boundaries to our ESG data in terms of legal entities and operational control as those set for our financial data. See our financial statements for a full description of inclusion principles and a complete list of companies. If these boundaries do not apply, this is stated in the definitions.

In 2022/23, we had some major changes to our production facility landscape. We closed our facilities in Sæby, Denmark, and Boizenburg, Germany, and new sites were added to DAT-Schaub's operations through acquisitions. We have also excluded our joint venture WestCrown to align with boundaries in our financial data.

ESG performance and future legislation

The legislative requirements for ESG reporting are increasing, and in general we are experiencing increasing expectations from customers, consumers, financial institutions and other stakeholders for measurable progress on sustainability. We also need to ensure that we meet the targets we have set, such as our emission reduction targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

To meet increasing expectations and future legal requirements, we have initiated a group-wide project to improve our overall set-up for data collection, validation and disclosure. We are working intensively to narrow the gap between the data points we currently collect and the data points required in future. In addition, we have a strong focus on ensuring high data quality across our business units and countries of operation. We add new data points and improve definitions and validation processes each year.

For example, we are developing an internal controlling framework for ESG data which will include site visits.

The aim of this work is not only to meet future legal requirements, but also to drive change and good decision-making, and to strengthen communication and add value for our customers and consumers. We will build dashboards which will allow employees across the organisation to follow our progress in key sustainability areas on a regular basis. We will also automate as much of our data collection as possible, which will allow higher data collection frequency and enable earlier action if we are not progressing as planned on our targets.

Building an organisation fit for future ESG data

To support strong anchoring of ESG data collection and validation across our facilities and business units, we have developed an organisation with a Sustainability Business Partner and a Sustainability Controller in each business unit. The Sustainability Business Partner is responsible for ensuring focus on sustainability in both the management team and the broader organisation. The Sustainability Controller, among others, has a key role in supporting quality in data collection and validation in the business unit.

The overall focus on ESG data was also enhanced in 2022/23 by the inclusion of a short-term incentive target related to ESG data. This target included concrete sub-targets for adding new data points, improving the data management processes for existing data points, and training. The short-term incentive target applied to director level and above, which includes more than 300 managers at Danish Crown.

Definitions

E ENVIRONMENT

Energy

Energy consumption

Energy consumption in MWh is the total consumption of fossil and renewable energy sources including the following: natural gas, gas oil, fuel oil, gasoline diesel, petrol, other fossil fuels, electricity, district heating and steam, liquefied and compressed gas, biomass energy, other alternative energy and own production of renewable energy.

Energy consumption in kWh per tonne produced is calculated by dividing total energy consumption by production in tonnes.

Green electricity

Consumption of externally purchased 100% renewable electricity and district heating as well as actual consumption of internally produced renewable electricity. Energy sources include geothermal, wind, solar, hydro and biomass. Stated as a percentage of total electricity consumption.

Emissions

Scope 1 emissions

Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse gas emissions from primary energy at our production facilities, including fuels used for stationary installations on site (natural gas) and vehicles (diesel). Emissions related to dry ice and carbon dioxide used for anaesthesia as well as the global warming potential of purchased refrigerants are also included in scope 1. All emissions are converted to carbon dioxide equivalents (CO ₂ e) and measured in thousands of tonnes of CO ₂ e.

Scope 2 emissions (market-based)

Scope 2 emissions are indirect greenhouse gas emissions from secondary energy, mainly electricity. The market-based method quantifies scope 2 emissions based on greenhouse gas emissions emitted by the generators from which the reporter contractually purchases electricity bundled with instruments ^* , or unbundled instruments ^* on their own (GHG Protocol, "Scope 2 Guidance" Glossary, 2015). Measured in thousands of tonnes of CO ₂ e.

^* Renewable energy certificates.

Scope 2 emissions (location-based)

Scope 2 emissions are indirect greenhouse gas emissions from secondary energy, mainly electricity. The location-based method quantifies scope 2 emissions based on average energy generation emission factors for defined locations, including local, subnational or national boundaries (GHG Protocol, "Scope 2 Guidance", Glossary, 2015). Measured in thousands of tonnes of CO ₂ e.

Scope 3 emissions

Scope 3 emissions are emissions that we are responsible for indirectly through our value chain.

Scope 3 emissions have been calculated for 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22. Given the high complexity of these emissions and our reliance on third-party data, scope 3 emissions for 2022/23 will be available in May 2024 in connection with the announcement of our half year results. The calculation of scope 3 emissions follows the methodology outlined in the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard. Danish Crown has a measurable climate impact in ten of the 15 categories of scope 3 emissions: 1. Purchased goods and services, 2. Capital goods, 3. Fuel and energy related activities, 4. Upstream transportation, 5. Waste generated in operations, 6. Business travel, 7. Employee commuting, 8. Upstream leased assets, 10. Processing of sold products, and 12. End-of-life treatment.

All farm level greenhouse gas emissions are included in category 1. This category accounts for the majority of our scope 3 emissions and includes the full value chain emissions from animal production. The calculation of farm level greenhouse gas emissions is based on data from our life cycle assessment (LCA) model. Measured in thousands of tonnes of CO ₂ e.

Note that parts of scope 3 emissions for DAT-Schaub and ESS-FOOD are not included.

We have revised our historical data for scope 3 emissions. The main reasons for the revision are (ranked by magnitude of impact): 1) We have updated the cattle module in our LCA calculations, which has resulted in a higher emission footprint for cattle than previously anticipated; 2) We have replaced our generic data with supplier specific data for non-meat procurement; 3) We have improved data quality for all animal types in all countries; 4) As a result of the target validation by the SBTi, we have expanded our scope 3 to also include emissions related to waste management of food waste at the consumer as well as refrigeration in retail.

Outside of scope (1-3)

Greenhouse gas emissions connected to burning of biomass should be reported "outside scope" (separately and not in scope 1, 2 or 3). Danish Crown does not disclose outside-scope emissions at this point as their contribution is negligible.

Emission intensity

Emissions divided by total output produced and measured in kg CO ₂ e per kg produced.

Water

Water data cover our production facilities, i.e. abattoirs and processing and casing facilities.

Water consumption

Water consumption is the withdrawal of water from all sources: groundwater, surface water (including collected rainwater), sea water, water from municipal facilities and other external vendors, own wells or water collections. Bottled water purchased for drinking is not included. Measured in thousands of cubic metres (m ³ ).

Water consumption in m ³ per tonne produced is calculated by dividing total water consumption (water withdrawal) by total production in tonnes.

COD in wastewater

Chemical oxygen demand (COD) in wastewater is the total amount of COD in wastewater divided by total production in tonnes. Measured in kg per tonne produced.

Waste

Waste data covers waste from our production facilities, i.e. abattoirs and processing and casing facilities.

Total waste

Total waste is the weight in tonnes of all waste generated. This includes both waste directed to recovery and waste directed to disposal (incineration or landfill), and hazardous waste. It does not include animal by-products, biomass used for biogas production or wastewater. Measured in tonnes.

Waste suitable for incineration

This is the total weight of waste which is suitable for incineration but not for recovery. Suitable for incineration means that the waste can be sent for incineration, but in some countries the waste management practices could result in another type of treatment, e.g. landfill. In preparation for compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, we have introduced new more detailed data points based on real recovery rates and destination instead of which type of treatment the waste is suitable for. Whenever possible our facilities have reported according to the new data points. This means that in some cases waste that has previously been counted as suitable for incineration has not been included in this data point in 2022/23, which may be part of the reason for the decline in the quantity of waste sent for incineration. Measured in tonnes.

Waste directed to recovery

This is the total weight of waste that has been recovered, including preparation for reuse and recycling but not energy recovery. In preparation for our compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, we have introduced new more detailed data points based on real recovery rates and destination as far as possible. Measured as a percentage of total waste.

Packaging

Our packaging data cover the following business units: Danish Crown, Danish Crown Beef and KLS.

The 2020/21 data for packaging volume and recyclable packaging materials has been revised as part of our data validation processes. In particular the weight of two items were adjusted as the weight included in the 2020/21 was too high.

Packaging volume

The total amount of packaging purchased during the financial year, excluding pallets. Measured in kg per tonne produced.

Recyclable packaging material

Recyclable plastic packaging materials are those defined as monomaterials in the design guide Reuse and recycling of plastic packaging for private consumers from the Network for Circular Plastic Packaging. Metal and fibre-based materials must consist of only one material structure to be considered recyclable. Measured as a percentage of total packaging.

Recycled packaging content (plastic)

Packaging made from materials recovered from post-consumer waste and recycled into a final product or product component. The indicator only includes post-consumer plastic materials. Measured as a percentage of total plastic packaging. Previously the indicator covered all packaging materials. Therefore, the figure for 2020/21 has been adjusted so it only includes plastic materials.

Certified fibre material

Certified fibre packaging is the share of fibre packaging with FSC, FSC MIX or equivalent certification, such as under the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). Measured as a percentage of total fibre packaging.

Climate Track

Suppliers in Climate Track

Suppliers in Climate Track is the percentage of our cooperative owners and contract suppliers who had joined the Climate Track programme by the end of the financial year. For animals and countries where implementation has started but is not yet complete, it is measured as the percentage of slaughter animals covered by the programme.

Biodiversity

Deforestation- and conversion-free soy

Deforestation- and conversion-free soy (DCF) includes certified soy as well as soy verified as originating from deforestation-free areas. The percentage of DCF soy covers both soy used in feed for our slaughter animals and soy used as an ingredient in our food production.

We have abattoirs in Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Poland, and it is thus these countries for which we calculate the percentage of certified or verified DCF used in feed for our slaughter animals. For all four countries organic animals are included as having been fed certified organic soy, which is DCF. The amount of conventional soy fed to Danish livestock is covered by RTRS credits, but the credits are not included in the percentage of DCF soy. In Sweden, all soy used as animal feed or as an ingredient in food production is certified or verified DCF. In Germany and Poland, we currently cannot document the use of DCF soy in feed. Consequently, all livestock (except for organic production systems) is assumed to be fed conventional soy.

Traded meat, DAT-Schaub's casings business and externally purchased meat are not part of the indicator.

S SOCIAL

Employees

Full-time employees (FTEs)

The number of FTEs during the reporting period is calculated as the average of the number of FTEs in each of the 12 months in the reporting period.

The calculation of FTEs is based on normal full-time employment in each country.

Employees are all those who receive any form of remuneration directly from Danish Crown for their services, including full-time, part-time and temporary staff.

Lost-time accidents

Lost-time accidents are the number of work-related accidents per thousand full-time equivalent employees (FTEs). An accident is recorded when it occurs during working hours and causes at least one day of absence after the day of the accident. Accidents during travel to/from work are generally not included.

Absence due to lost-time accidents

This is the total number of working days lost due to accidents, excluding the day of the accidents, divided by the number of losttime accidents. If an accident causes several periods of absence, all days of absence are included. Absence within the reporting period due to accidents in previous periods is not included.

Fatalities

Fatalities are defined as work-related accidents resulting in the death of a worker. This includes both Danish Crown employees and workers not employed by Danish Crown but working at our facilities.

Noise exposure (Denmark)

Noise exposure is the percentage of production employees in Denmark exposed to a daily noise level above 82 dB(A).

Employee turnover

Employee turnover is the total number of employees (headcount) who left Danish Crown in the reporting period for any reason, whether voluntarily or involuntarily due to dismissal, retirement or death. Measured as a percentage of the total number of employees in headcounts. In previous years, employee turnover was measured based on full-time equivalents (FTEs).

Women in senior management

This is the share of women that hold a position as Vice President and above. Measured as the number of women in these positions as a percentage of the total number of managers in these positions.

Responsible sourcing

Supplier Code of Conduct acceptance

The Supplier Code of Conduct acceptance rate shows the percentage of our spend where suppliers have accepted our Supplier Code of Conduct or have committed to an equivalent code of conduct. Excludes Sokołów and DAT-Schaub.

Recalls

Products which have been delivered to our customers and sold to consumers, and subsequently recalled because they pose a potential risk to food safety.

G GOVERNANCE

Management systems and certification coverage

Our latest calculation of certificate coverage is from 2021/22.

Food safety

Food safety certification coverage is measured as the percentage of our production that is covered by one or more of the following certifications: British Retail Consortium (BRC), Global Red Meat Standard (GRMS), International Featured Standard (IFS) and FSCC 22000.

Environment

Environment certification coverage is measured as the percentage of our production that is covered by ISO 14001.

Health and safety

Health and safety certification coverage is measured as the percentage of employees at our production facilities and warehouses who are covered by ISO 45001. Production facilities are abattoirs, processing and casing facilities.

Animal welfare

The percentage of animals that are slaughtered at abattoirs certified as complying with the Global Red Meat Standard (GRMS).

Whistleblower cases

Read more about our whistleblower system on page 50.

OTHER INDICATORS

Slaughtered animals

The total number of animals slaughtered at Danish Crown. Also shown by type of animal. Data from previous years has been aligned with our financial reporting.

Animals raised organically, as free-range and/or without antibiotics

The total number of animals slaughtered that were raised organically, as free-range and/or without antibiotics.

Organic animals are animals raised in accordance with national, European and international organic labels. This includes animals raised under concepts such as the Danish "Friland økologisk" and the German "Bioland".

Free-range animals are animals that have been able to roam freely outdoors for at least part of the day, acknowledging that weather conditions can restrict access to outdoor facilities for part of the year in some geographies. This includes animals raised under concepts such as the Danish "Friland" and the Swedish "Naturbeteskött".

Animals raised without antibiotics include those raised under the American National Organic Program (NOP) and our Polish programme of fattening without antibiotics.

Location

Countries of operation

Countries of operation is the number of countries in which Danish Crown operates one or more facilities defined as abattoirs, processing and casing plants, sales offices and warehouses.

Facilities in/outside Europe

The number of facilities as defined above that Danish Crown operates within Europe and outside Europe.

Number of meals

Production in tonnes divided by 50 grams per meal. The 50 gram measure is based on official Danish dietary guidelines, which recommend eating 350 grams of meat per week.

Financial statements

The financial statements present the group's financial performance during the year and position at the end of the year. Key financial information such as revenue, expenses, profit, assets, liabilities and equity is presented in a structured format auto aid analysis and understanding.

Consolidated financial statements

Income statement 1 October - 30 September

Statement of comprehensive income 1 October - 30 September

Balance sheet - assets 30 September

Balance sheet - equity and liabilities 30 September

Statement of changes in equity 30 September

Cash flow statement 1 October - 30 September

Notes, group

Income statement

Note 1

Significant accounting estimates and judgments

Note 2

Revenue

Note 3

Staff costs

Note 4

Depreciation, amortisation and impairment

Note 5

Fees to the parent's auditors appointed by the Board of Representatives

Note 6

Special items

Note 7

Financial income

Note 8

Financial expenses

Note 9

Tax on profit for the year

Invested capital

Note 10

Intangible assets

Note 11

Property, plant and equipment

Note 12

Lease assets

Note 13

Equity investments in associates and joint ventures

Note 14

Other securities and equity investments

Note 15

Acquisitions

Note 16

Other provisions

Note 17

Deferred tax

Net working capital

Note 18

Inventories

Note 19

Biological assets

Note 20

Trade receivables

Financing 8

Note 21

Loans

Note 22

Lease liabilities

Note 23

Financial risks

Note 24

Categories of financial instruments

Note 25

Fair value of financial instruments

Other notes

Note 26

Contingent liabilities

Note 27

Security

Note 28

Related parties

Note 29

Rights and liabilities of the cooperative owners

Note 30

Specifications to the cash flow statement

Note 31

Accounting policies

Income statement

Note 1 Significant accounting estimates and judgments

When preparing the annual report in accordance with the group's accounting policies, management is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the assets and liabilities recognised, including information on any contingent assets and liabilities.

Management's estimates are based on historical experience and other assumptions which are deemed relevant at the time. These estimates and assumptions form the basis for the recognised carrying amounts of assets and liabilities and the related effects recognised in the income statement. Actual results may differ from such estimates and assumptions.

Management considers the following estimates and judgments significant to the preparation of the consolidated financial statements.

Production costs

Costs for the purchase of slaughter animals from the cooperative owners are recognised at current published settlement prices for the year under production costs. At the year-end closing, the Board of Representatives of Leverandørselskabet Danish Crown AmbA determines how large a share of the profit for the year to transfer to consolidation purposes and how large a share of the profit to distribute as supplementary payments, which is treated as dividend.

Intangible assets

At least once a year, the group tests goodwill and other intangible assets with indefinite useful lives for impairment. A further description of the basis of accounting estimates can be found in note 10. No impairment was recognised on goodwill.

Property, plant and equipment

Management makes accounting estimates concerning residual values, and these are reassessed on an annual basis. In addition, separate assessments are made of impairment losses in connection with capacity adjustments, closure of facilities or any other situations where there is an indication of impairment as a result of changed production or market conditions. An impairment charge of DKK 83 million was recognised on facilities that have been closed during 2022/23. No impairment charges were recognised on facilities last year. A specification of property, plant and equipment is provided in note 11.

Inventories

When assessing the net realisable value of inventories of fresh/frozen meat and casings, management estimates the expected development in market prices. Price developments in the world market may be affected by access to major markets. At the end of 2022/23, we made a reversal of the write-down of inventories of DKK 148 million due to an increase in the market price of pork. A specification of inventories is provided in note 18.

Deferred tax liabilities and tax assets

Deferred tax assets are recognised if it is probable that taxable income will be available in the future against which temporary differences or tax losses carried forward can be utilised.

As a result of higher uncertainty as to the future earnings of loss-making units, the majority of the tax assets related to tax losses carried forward have been written down.

The group's uncertain tax positions are regularly assessed and necessary provisions are recognised on the basis of estimates of likely outcomes and a risk assessment thereof.

A specification of deferred tax liabilities and tax assets is provided in note 17.

Note 2 Revenue

Allocation of revenue on business areas and sales channels

Allocation of revenue on business areas and markets

Note 3 Staff costs

Key management personnel is defined as Executive Management. The remuneration to the Executive Management in 2022/23 amounts to DKK 30 million (2021/22: DKK 34 million).

The remuneration to the Executive Management does not include pension but includes costs for long-term bonuses in 2022/23 of DKK 2 million (2021/22: DKK 1 million). In addition, renumeration for the Executive Management includes severance payment of DKK 0 million (2021/22: DKK 4 million).

The calculation methodology and therefore the presented numbers differs from the calculation methodology used and the numbers presented in the Remuneration Report.

Note 4 Depreciation, amortisation and impairment

Note 5 Fees to the parent's auditors appointed by the Board of Representatives

Note 6 Special items

The amounts relate to the closure of two production facilities in Danish Crown to improve capacity utilisation.

For asset specification reference is made to page 79.

Note 7 Financial income

Note 8 Financial expenses

Note 9 Tax on profit for the year

Invested capital

Calculation of invested capital

Note 10 Intangible assets

Except for goodwill with an indefinite useful life, all other intangible assets are considered to have finite useful lives over which the assets are amortised.

Impairment testing of goodwill

Goodwill arising on acquisition etc. at the date of acquisition is allocated to the cash-generating units which are expected to obtain economic benefits from the business combination.

The carrying amount of goodwill is allocated to the cash-generating units as follows:

Goodwill is tested for impairment at least once a year, or more frequently if there are indications of impairment. The annual impairment test is made at the end of the financial year and has not resulted in any impairment of goodwill in the financial year. The recoverable amount for the individual cash-generating units to which the goodwill amounts have been allocated is calculated on the basis of calculations of the units' net present value.

The cash-generating units' net present value is calculated using the cash flows stated in the units' budgets and strategy plans for the next five financial years. The strategy plans include a number of efficiency initiatives. Account is taken of timing differences in strategy plans. For financial years following the budget and strategy periods (terminal period), cash flows in the most recent strategy period have been extrapolated, adjusted for expected growth rates for the specific markets. The most important uncertainties in this regard are related to the determination of discount rates and growth rates as well as the uncertainties and risks reflected in the budget and strategy figures.

The fixed discount rates reflect market assessments of the time value of money, expressed as a risk-free interest rate, and the specific risks which are associated with the individual cash-generating unit. Discount rates are generally determined on an 'after tax' basis based on the estimated weighted average cost of capital (WACC).

The growth rates used are based on the forecasts and strategy plans of the individual units as well as on expectations for discount rates, interest and inflation levels. The growth rates used do not exceed the expected average long-term growth rate for the markets in question.

The most important budget assumptions are based on expectations for the organic growth in tonnage in the market(s) in which the companies primarily operate, the possibility of moving up in the value chain (new and more processed products) and the development in raw material prices for the principal products (pork and beef as well as by-products). For Sokołów and KLS, such expectations cover the Polish and Swedish markets, while the assessment for DAT-Schaub and Danish Crown covers a number of global primary markets. The estimates of growth and the correlation between selling prices and raw material prices in the budget and strategy periods are based on historical experience and expectations for future growth and market conditions. Management assesses that likely changes to the basic assumptions will not result in the recoverable amount of goodwill being lower than the carrying amount.

Parameters used to calculate recoverable amounts

Acquired trademarks etc.

Acquired trademarks etc. primarily concern trademarks in Poland with a remaining life of 5-15 years.

Note 11 Property, plant and equipment

Finance costs of DKK 6 million were recognised in the cost of assets under construction in the financial year (2021/22: DKK 0 million).

Note 12 Lease assets

Lease liabilities are specified in note 22.

Note 13 Equity investments in associates and joint ventures

The financial year of Daka Denmark A/S, Agri-Norcold A/S, Oriental Sino Limited, WestCrown GmbH and Green Fertilizer Denmark ApS runs from 1 January to 31 December. For consolidation purposes, financial statements are prepared in accordance with Danish Crown's accounting policies for periods corresponding to Danish Crown's accounting periods.

Note 14 Other securities and equity investments

Note 15 Acquisitions

The group did not sell any companies during 2022/23 or 2021/22.

The acquisitions made in 2022/23 and 2021/22 all serve to strengthen the group's primary business activities and are important for the group to achieve its strategy of higher added value of its raw materials. In connection with acquisitions made in 2022/23, goodwill totalling DKK 20 million was recognised. Of the capitalised goodwill amount, DKK 0 million is expected to be tax deductible. As described in note 10, it has not been necessary to make an impairment charge of the capitalised goodwill amounts.

The consideration paid in connection with the acquisitions exceeds the fair value of acquired identifiable assets, liabilities and contingent liabilities. This positive difference (goodwill) is primarily based on expected synergies between the activities of the acquired businesses and the group's existing activities, future growth potential and the staff of the businesses. These synergies are not recognised separately from goodwill because they are not separately identifiable.

Of the group's profit for the year, DKK 2 million is attributable to results generated in acquired businesses. Of the group's revenue, DKK 61 million is attributable to acquired businesses.

If the acquired businesses had been acquired effective 1 October 2022, revenue for 2022/23 would have been approximately DKK 136 million, and profit for the year around DKK 9 million in the acquired businesses. Management believes that these pro forma figures reflect the level of earnings in the group after the acquisition of the businesses and that these amounts should therefore be used as a basis for comparison in subsequent financial years.

In the computation of the pro forma revenue and the pro forma profit for the year, the following significant assumptions have been used:

In connection with the acquisition of the activities in the acquired businesses, transaction costs of DKK 1 million were incurred. Transaction costs include adviser fees and legal fees, which are recognised as administrative expenses.

Consideration

Note 16 Other provisions

Other provisions can be specified by maturity as follows:

The provisions were made based on the latest information available. The group believes that the risk in the individual areas has been fully provided for and that it will not require additional provisions.

Note 17 Deferred tax

The tax value of tax losses amounting to DKK 320 million (2021/22: DKK 244 million) was not recognised as it was not deemed sufficiently probable that the losses will be utilised in the foreseeable future.

The temporary exception from the requirement to account for deferred taxes arising from the implementation of the Pillar Two model rules (including any qualified domestic minimum top-up tax) has been applied.

Deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities are set off in the balance sheet when a legal right of set-off exists, and the deferred tax asset and deferred tax liabilities concern the same legal tax unit/consolidation.

Net working capital

Calculation of net working capital

Note 18 Inventories

Note 19 Biological assets

Note 20 Trade receivables

The primary credit risk of the group concerns trade receivables. The payment terms stated in the group's sales contracts with customers are based on the underlying performance obligation and customer relations. The group's payment terms comprise short-term credits averaging approximately 35 days. No sales with significant long payment terms exist.

Customers are credit-rated individually, and based on an overall assessment of the customer's ability to pay and geographical location, a decision is made on the use of credit insurance, letters of credit, prepayments or open credit terms. For customers with outstanding balances exceeding DKK 25 million, credit insurance must be taken out unless the customer has a credit rating of A or higher with a reputable rating agency.

Receivables are written down, partly on the basis of the simplified expected credit loss model, and partly on the basis of an individual assessment of whether the individual debtor's solvency is reduced, for example as a result of suspension of payments or bankruptcy.

Individual receivables are written down to the calculated net realisable value. The carrying amount of receivables written down to net realisable value based on an individual assessment is DKK 20 million (30.09.2022: DKK 29 million).

The maximum credit risk on receivables more than 30 days overdue, but not written down, is DKK 33 million (30.09.2022: DKK 39 million).

Financing

Calculation of financial gearing

Capital structure

The company's management assesses on an ongoing basis whether the group's capital structure matches the company's and the owners' interests. The overall target is to ensure a capital structure which supports long-term financial growth and, at the same time, maximises the return for the group's stakeholders by optimising the debt-equity ratio. The group's overall strategy is consistent with that of last year.

The group's capital structure includes debt, comprising financial liabilities in the form of mortgage debt, bank debt, finance lease liabilities, receivables from cooperative owners, cash and equity, including cooperative owner's accounts, owner's accounts, other reserves and retained earnings.

Note 21 Loans

Loans can be specified by maturity as follows:

Note 22 Lease liabilities

Lease assets are described in note 12.

Note 23 Financial risks

Financial risks are managed at group level in accordance with the group's treasury policy. The treasury policy is updated once every year and approved by the Board of Directors.

There have been no changes to the group's risk exposure or risk management relative to the previous financial year.

The group hedges commercial risks only and does not engage in derivative financial transactions for speculation purposes. The four following notes provide details of the group's most important financial risks and the group's management thereof.

Note 23.1 Currency risk

Currency risks in respect of assets and liabilities and future cash flows

The group's business activities result in exposure to future exchange rate changes. The group's currency policy is to regularly hedge the commercial risk that exchange rate changes affect future cash flows in DKK.

The commercial risk of exchange rate changes arises as a result of differences in exchange rates from the time of raising of cash and cash equivalents, securities, receivables, trade payables and other payables in foreign currency until these amounts are paid. Moreover, the commercial risk arises as a result of the impact on expected future sales, where expected future sales are sales orders concluded and specific expected sales in the short term.

To hedge recognised and non-recognised transactions, the group uses hedging instruments in the form of foreign currency overdrafts and loans and forward exchange contracts. The hedging of recognised assets and liabilities primarily comprises cash and cash equivalents, securities, receivables and financial liabilities.

At the balance sheet date, the fair value of the group's derivative financial instruments hedging the currency risk regarding recognised financial assets and liabilities was DKK -24 million (30 September 2022: DKK -40 million). The fair value of the derivative financial instruments is recognised under other payables/other receivables and set off against the foreign currency translation adjustments of the hedged assets and liabilities in the statement of comprehensive income.

The hedging of expected future cash flows is treated as a cash flow hedge, meaning that the fair value adjustment of the hedging instruments used is made through other comprehensive income. Fair value adjustment of hedging instruments used to hedge specific expected sales in the short term is calculated on the basis of the value of such sales.

The hedging of sales orders concluded is treated as a fair value hedge, meaning that the fair value adjustment of the hedged orders and the hedging instruments used is made through profit and loss.

If the group has concluded foreign currency hedging agreements which do not qualify as hedge accounting, such agreements are treated as trading portfolios, recognising fair value adjustments continuously through profit and loss.

Open forward exchange contracts at the balance sheet date have a term to maturity of up to 12 months and can be specified as described in the table on page 90 where agreements on the sale of currency are stated with a positive contractual value.

The group has performed a systematic review of contracts which may contain conditions making the contract or parts of it a derivative financial instrument. The review did not give rise to any recognition of derivative financial instruments.

Hedging of net investments in foreign subsidiaries

In addition to the commercial currency risk, Danish Crown has a number of investments in foreign subsidiaries and is exposed to exchange rate fluctuations in connection with the translation of these subsidiaries' equity to DKK. The group hedges some of this currency risk by raising loans in the relevant currency. This applies to net investments in EUR, GBP, SEK, USD and PLN.

The change in the foreign currency translation adjustment of these financial instruments (debt instruments) hedging the currency risk concerning investments in foreign currency is recognised in other comprehensive income. To the extent that the fair value adjustment does not exceed the value adjustment of the investment, adjustments of these financial instruments are made through other comprehensive income; otherwise the fair value adjustment is recognised in the income statement.

At the balance sheet date, DKK 22 million (30 September 2022: DKK -23 million) was recognised in other comprehensive income concerning fair value adjustment of instruments to hedge net investments and loans classified as additions to net investments.

There were no ineffective hedges in the present or previous financial years.

At the balance sheet date, the fair value of the cumulative market value adjustments of instruments hedging net investments amounted to DKK 111 million (30 September 2022: DKK 89 million).

Currency sensitivity analysis

The group's most important currency exposure with regard to sales concerns EUR, GBP, JPY, SEK and USD. Exchange rate fluctuations in respect of these currencies will not impact the group's financial results significantly as commercial currency positions are hedged in accordance with the group's risk policy, meaning that sales and net positions in the balance sheet are hedged.

The table on the right shows the effect it would have had on net profit and equity if the exchange rate of the most important currencies carrying a risk of significant exchange rate fluctuations had been 10 per cent lower than the exchange rate actually applied. If the exchange rate had been 10 per cent higher than the actual exchange rate, this would have had a corresponding positive effect on net profit and equity.

In the preparation of the sensitivity analysis, it is assumed that all hedges are assessed to be 100 per cent effective.

Note 23.2 Interest rate risk

The Danish Crown Group has, to a wide extent, interest-bearing financial assets and liabilities and is as such exposed to interest rate risk.

We aim to ensure a reasonable balance between the group's exposure to floating and fixed interest rates. Significant changes to the mix of floating and fixed interest rates must be approved by the Board of Directors.

The group can show its financial assets and liabilities broken down by interest-reset or maturity dates, whichever occurs first, as interest-bearing assets and liabilities falling due after one year are considered to carry a fixed interest rate as shown in the table on the right-hand side of this page.

Sensitivity analysis

Interest rate fluctuations affect the group's bond portfolios, floating-rate bank deposits, mortgage debt and other payables. An increase in interest rate levels of 1 percentage point per year relative to the interest rate level at the balance sheet date would have resulted in a decrease in the group's net profit and equity of DKK 85 million (2021/22: DKK 83 million). A corresponding decrease in interest rate levels would have had an equivalent positive effect on the group's net profit and equity.

The group aims to ensure a reasonable balance between the group's exposure to floating and fixed interest rates. The interest rate risk constitutes the annual change in financial cash flows entailed in the event of a 1 percentage point change in interest rates.

The following assumptions were applied when preparing the sensitivity analysis:

Fair value of payables

The fair value of mortgage debt, debt to other credit institutions and bank debt has been calculated at the present value of future instalments and interest payments by using the current interest rate curve derived from current market rates (level 2). The fair value of the interest rate swaps outstanding at the balance sheet date hedging interest rate risks on floating-rate loans amounts to DKK 0 million (30 September 2022: DKK 9 million) (level 2).

The group's bank deposits are placed in current accounts or fixed-term deposit accounts.

Sale and repurchase transactions in respect of bonds (repos) entered into concurrently with the raising of bond loans in the same series are classified as derivative financial instruments, with bonds being the underlying assets. At 30 September 2023, such sale and repurchase transactions with a nominal value of DKK 2,994 million (30 September 2022: DKK 3,167 million) have been entered into. The fair value of the derivative financial instruments is immaterial.

Note 23.3 Liquidity risk

The group is exposed to unforeseen fluctuations in liquidity outflows.

The group's strategy is to have an overweight of long-term commitments to ensure financing stability. The group's strategy is also to have enough cash resources to be able to make the necessary arrangements in the event of unforeseen fluctuations in the outflow of cash. In connection with the raising of loans etc., it is group policy to ensure the greatest possible flexibility through a spreading of the loans in relation to maturity, renegotiation dates and counterparties, taking into account pricing etc.

The maturities of financial liabilities are specified by the time intervals applied in the group's cash management. The amounts specified in the table on the right are the amounts falling due for payment including interest, etc. The table thus shows the amounts which the Danish Crown Group is contractually committed to pay within 1 year, between 1 and 5 years and after 5 years.

Non-performance of loan agreements

The group has neither during the financial year nor during the year of comparison been in arrears with or defaulted on any of its loan agreements.

To ensure sufficient liquidity until 30 September 2024 the group is dependent on refinancing of DKK 3 billion which is in process and expected to be closed in December 2023.

Undiscounted future contractual cash flows

Note 23.4 Credit risk

The primary credit risk of the group concerns trade receivables. See note 20 for additional information on credit risk relating to trade receivables.

Agreements on derivative financial instruments with a nominal value exceeding DKK 100 million are generally only concluded with reputable insurance or credit institutions with a credit rating of A or higher with Standard & Poor's.

Note 24 Categories of financial instruments

Note 25 Fair value of financial instruments

The fair value of financial liabilities and bank deposits, which are not measured at fair value, are disclosed in note 23.2. The fair value of receivables, trade payables, payables to associates and other payables is assumed to equal the recognised values.

Fair value hierarchy for financial instruments measured at fair value in the balance sheet

The table on the right shows the classification of financial instruments measured at fair value, distributed according to the fair value hierarchy:

Methodology and assumptions for the calculation of fair values

Listed bonds and shares

The portfolio of listed government bonds, mortgage bonds and shares is measured at quoted prices and price quotes.

Unlisted shares

Unlisted shares are measured on the basis of market multiples for a group of comparable listed companies less an estimated factor for trading in an unlisted market. If this is not possible, unlisted shares are measured at cost.

Derivative financial instruments

Forward exchange contracts and interest rate swaps are measured on the basis of generally accepted valuation methods based on relevant observable swap curves and foreign exchange rates.

No material transfers were made between level 1 and level 2 in the financial year.

Other notes

Note 26 Contingent liabilities

The group is involved in a few lawsuits and disputes. Management is of the opinion that the outcome of these will not have any significant impact on the group's financial position.

Note 27 Security