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Dear reader

Welcome to FREJA's first newsletter of 2023. In this issue, we share what is happening within our operations in the transport and logistics industry. For nearly two years, we have worked with three mergers and are today a unified FREJA Sweden. The planned synergies, including the merger, have been implemented according to plan.

In our development forward, we have designed a completely new online service and offer a comprehensive last mile concept called "FREJA HOME" for private deliveries. We are proud that it is finally in place and that we can now meet our customers' needs to a greater extent.

In addition to developing our services, we are expanding our logistics operations in Jönköping. The capacity will quadruple, which means a major investment in the Swedish logistics market going forward.

Within FREJA, we are constantly working on the development of environmentally friendly transport. It is an extremely important area for us, and we work hard to reduce our footprint on the environment. Later this year, our new updated ESG report will be released.

We wish you all a very happy summer.

Sincerely
Morten Dreyer

Optimized sustainability work between FUCHS and FREJA

We are constantly working to find new solutions to optimize our transport and capacity and to reduce our footprint on the environment. We have started a collaboration with FUCHS where we put focus on environmentally friendly transport. FUCHS is a global group with roots in Germany, and they are one of the world's leading lubricating oil companies.

FREJA now drives goods daily from FUCHS's warehouse in Västerhaninge, just outside Stockholm, to our Nordic neighbor countries. FUCHS and FREJA have already taken big steps forward in sustainability work. The first major step is our daily transport between Stockholm and Oslo, Norway, which now runs on HVO100.

"With HVO100, we can reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 90 percent compared to regular diesel. It also results in lower particle emissions", says Søren Skive, vice president of FREJA Sweden.

HVO stands for Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil and is an advanced renewable fuel for diesel engines. It is often used to mix up regular diesel when you want to reduce the environmental impact, and with HVO100 the fuel is 100 percent renewable.

For those who really want to minimize their climate impact and optimize the sustainability of their transport, you really need to put in an effort. For FUCHS and FREJA, it is not enough that all of FREJA's transports is done with HVO100, but together we have also looked at everything from the choice of trucks to load optimization - and that gives results.

"By also looking at which cars we drive with, and how we load them, we have managed to halve the amount of transport on the Norwegian route without reducing our level of service to customers", says Magnus Stolt, who is responsible for storage and distribution at FUCHS. He continues: "Earlier we drove two cars a day to Norway, but now we manage with one, and we can see that it makes a big difference! Our ambition is to become more environmentally friendly, and FREJA is a valuable partner in that effort".

"At FREJA, we wish to drive more environmentally friendly transports, but we cannot do it ourselves. It is important to have partners who want the same, and who are willing to pay for it, and FUCHS wants that. We are happy to be able to cooperate with a partner like FUCHS, and we look forward to continuing the work of introducing HVO100 trucks also on their routes to Denmark", says Sören Skive.

Feel free to contact us to learn more about how we at FREJA can help your business with more environmentally friendly transport.

FREJA now offers private deliveries with ”FREJA HOME”

One of our newest products is private deliveries within the entire Nordic region. FREJA is happy to announce that we have expanded our product portfolio and now offer a full European (Scandinavian) B2C – Last mile setup, where we transport everything from small packages to spa baths throughout Scandinavia, and everything else you can imagine within the B2C segment, with full service in all Nordic countries.

FREJA Transport & Logistics AB, offers delivery to the Service point or directly to the recipient's address with delivery, assembly and return of packaging/old product as an option.

Your customer chooses the delivery option that suits them best, and the price is displayed directly in the booking module. We bring the goods all the way from you to the customer, and this applies to all kinds of goods, from small interior details to large furniture. With Track & Trace, the sender and receiver can easily follow the goods in real time.

"In recent years, we have worked very hard to create a B2C - Last mile concept that covers all of Scandinavia, and we are happy to finally be able to offer this service to our customers", says Benjamin Neuman, Business Development Manager FREJA Transport & Logistics AB.

Contact our FREJA HOME specialists to learn more: frejahome@freja.com

New logistics property in Jönköping of 20,000 square meters

During the spring, we made a press release that FREJA is building a new logistics property in Jönköping. The decision about the expansion is partly based on a desire to expand in the region. Jönköping is an important point in Sweden for our setup, and the development and increase in volume made us outgrow our current property.

"FREJA is looking forward to now being able to offer the necessary space for all the requests we receive in relation to the services we can offer both current and potential new customers", says Morten Dreyer, CEO at FREJA Transport & Logistics AB

The property company, Tosito AB, has received the assignment to build the 20,000-square-meter property. The lease is a so-called green lease, and the building will be environmentally certified according to Miljöbyggnad - Sweden Green Building Council. Construction is expected to start in the near future, and occupancy is planned for spring 2024.

Cost increase on road freight due to the EU Mobility Package and tax regulations in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria

First of all, it is very positive that there is a common approach in the EU to improve conditions for drivers such as increasing salaries and a generally improvement of living standards for drivers.

The next step of the EU Mobility Package will become effective on the 2nd of February 2022 and will lead to large changes.

The changes are quite comprehensive, especially salary regulations to match the collective agreement in the country in which the driver is transiting or staying, new cabotage rules and the fact that the vehicle and driver every 8 weeks must return to the country where the vehicle is registered. Furthermore, the driver must be given the option to return home every 4 weeks and last but not least there is a demand for documentation requirements of salaries as well as manual registration in a central database in the EU until a new digital unit will replace the manual process by the 20th of August 2025.

Below we have listed the most important changes which affect the costs upon implementation of the EU Mobility Package for Road Freight:

• Harmonization of salary depending on in which country driver is driving or staying
• The driver can ask to return to his home country every 4 weeks
• The driver and the vehicle must return to his home country every 8 weeks
• Every 2 weeks, the driver must take rest outside the vehicle
• Manual registration in the central EU system called IMI
• Changes of the tax systems in Poland, Rumania and Bulgaria

Improved conditions for drivers, taxes and increased administration are the main factors which affect the freight rate structure for the immediate future. Regretfully, the cost development is of large uncertainty and will with very short notice have a large impact on the price structure.

All the above will increase the pressure on capacity and further increase the costs for our customers. We will come back with further information very soon.

Click here to get an overview of the regulations of the road transport

See also FREJA's newsletter from September 2021

The EU and the USA have reached an agreement setting a fixed ceiling of 15% customs duty on most goods – and completely removing tariffs on a number of strategically important products. The agreement sends a clear signal that free trade can still prevail over protectionism.

"In a time of global challenges and uncertainty in the world markets, it is important to have stable framework conditions for our customers. This agreement brings stability to trade across the Atlantic," says Dennis Kring Friis, Manager for Customs Clearance.

For Danish logistics, the agreement means increased predictability in trade with our largest trading partner to the west – giving companies the opportunity to plan their transport and supply chains with greater certainty.

At FREJA, we closely follow developments and stay updated on customs matters so that we can always provide our customers with the best possible advice. If you have any questions, please contact your usual FREJA representative or our customs department.

Update May 15, 2023 at 08:00

Despite the cancellation of the nationwide protest actions it turns out that some drivers have decided to carry out individual actions. Therefore, access to the highways have been blocked in many parts of Denmark. This creates delays and irregularities at the moment.

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Update May 11, 2023 at 15:00

The actions which were planned to take place in Denmark Monday May 15, 2023 have been cancelled. We therefore expect a normal traffic situation next week.

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As written in the Danish press, a group of hauliers have announced nationwide protest actions on May 15, 2023. The protest actions will impact major Danish roads and hubs and thereby stop the supply chain throughout the country. The reason for the protest actions is the introduction of road tax for trucks in Denmark in 2025.

FREJA does NOT support these actions. However, we must expect that the traffic throughout the country will be effected. We therefore foresee delays in relation to collections and deliveries on May 15, 2023 and the following days.

We therefore ask our customers to take the necessary precautions in relation to the conflict.

For further information please contact your normal contact person in FREJA.

Because of the Corona situation, Fjord Line has experience a somewhat reduced use of their services between Denmark and Norway. Therefore, they have been forced to find savings by reducing their costs related to staff and by reducing their schedules.

Unfortunately, this will affect the lines that FREJA uses, as the following changes will take place:

The line between Hirtshals (DK) - Bergen (NO) and vice versa will close down

The line between Hirtshals (DK) - Langesund (NO) and vice versa will close down

The line between Hirtshals (DK) - Stavanger (NO) and vice versa will be limited to two weekly departures instead of daily operation

 

The changes will become effective on 28^th October and we expect an extended transit time.

We, as well as Fjord Line, look forward to getting to the other side of the Corona pandemic and back to an ordinary traffic situation.

If you have any questions as to how this will effect you as a client in FREJA, please contact your ordinary contact person.

FREJA continues a stable development

The transport and logistics company FREJA Transport & Logistics Holding A/S announces a satisfactory result for the first half of 2020. The integration of Transcargo has been completed and in spite of COVID-19 and continuous large investments in the Polish subsidiary, we deliver a good result above budget. We have seen a successful turnaround in the Swedish subsidiary,  improvement of the operation in Denmark and a continuous fine development in the daughter companies in Norway and Finland. Furthermore, the youngest daughter companies in Poland and China contribute positively. Continuous focus on business development and investments in IT, RPA and employees still have a high priority and these focus areas are contributing factors to ongoing success in the privately owned Skive company.

In spite of COVID-19 and the resulting turbulence in the transport markets, the result for the first half of 2020 is very satisfactory
During the first half of 2020, FREJA Transport & Logistics Holding A/S has focused on adapting the company to the new market situation as a result of COVID-19, as well as the ongoing integration of the company in Poland. Ongoing focus on quality as well as safe and efficient transport solutions have resulted in additional sales to existing customers as well as an increase of new larger customers. This means that we have been able to obtain almost the same turnover as in 2019. On the other hand, the net profit is significantly improved, especially because of large operational improvements and an even stronger and closer cooperation across the countries.

The development in the subsidiaries in Norway and Finland continues to be very positive. In Denmark we continue the trend with a stable progress and for the first time in a long time, Sweden contributes positively, which is a significant improvement compared to the first half of 2019. Likewise, China and Poland contribute with positive results better than expected.

The following key figures for FREJA Group are published with respect to the first half of 2020
FREJA Transport & Logistics Holding A/S reports a small decrease in turnover for the first half of 2020 at 1.5 % compared to 2019. The total turnover for the first half of 2020 ends at a total of DKK 1.64 billion.

EBIT for the first six months of the year totals DKK 76.6 million in 2020 compared to DKK 30.0 million in 2019. The pre-tax profits of the first six months total DKK 66.9 million in 2020 compared to 22.3 million in 2019.

The Group equity capital has increased from DKK 272 million as of 30 June 2019 to DKK 331 million as of 30 June 2020. Because of a transition to IFRS16, the solvency ratio has fallen to 22 %.

“The financial statement for the first half of 2020 shows that our business model and our large focus on a cooperation across FREJA countries is worth the efforts. Our loyal and dedicated employees have shown exceptional efforts during these difficult COVID-19 times which means that FREJA has come out stronger of a very turbulent first half year,” says Group CEO Ulrik Rasmussen.

An ongoing focus on high quality, value creation for all players in the value chain and goal-oriented sales efforts will create unique possibilities for continued growth in FREJA
Founder and Chairman Jørgen Hansen insists that FREJA’s focus must be directed towards the development of long-term relations with as well customers as suppliers. In spite of a large focus on efficiency improvements, FREJA is well aware that each individual is still the most important resource in the cooperation.

The key words for a strong cooperation are openness, trust and credibility. FREJA’s foundation is built on strong values, and the mission is to develop these values daily in cooperation with customers and suppliers.

For further information please contact