Annual Report 2021: Another year in the shadow of the pandemic

The past year has been yet another year in the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite a deficit SOS International is still financially a very solid company.

The Covid-19 restrictions has affected our Travelcare Division significantly. All in all, in 2021 the activity level in the Travelcare Division was at a much lower level than that in 2019, which is the most recent year not impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Mobility and Healthcare Divisions, on the other hand, recorded increasing activities in 2021. As for the Mobility business, we have, in 2021, observed a record high number of assistance cases across the Nordics. This increase has been caused by an organic growth of the customer portfolio as well as a severe winter in the beginning of 2021. Compared to an average winter, this resulted in an increasing need for roadside assistance.

The Healthcare Division is in a growth phase and the Healthcare business has in the recent years experienced a notably growth, especially in Sweden. Today, the Healthcare Division in Sweden provides all necessary assistance services that support health insurances – that is medical advice, psychological treatment, and physiological treatment. In Norway and Denmark though, our healthcare services are – for now – mainly focusing on psychological treatment.

Financially, earnings before tax (EBT) amounted to a deficit of DKK 139 million in 2021. This is reflecting the low activity level in the Travelcare Division caused by Covid-19 related restrictions worldwide. There is still a high uncertainty in relation to when a new, more stable travel pattern will arise, where there potentially will be no travel restrictions throughout the world. Due to this uncertainty, SOS International has no forecast for 2022.

The deficit in 2020 that amounted to DKK 107 million and this year’s deficit of DKK 139 million are the first years in the history of SOS International that resulted in deficit. Nevertheless, SOS International is still financially a very solid company as a capital increase of DKK 199 million was made at the end of 2020, and again of DKK 115 million at the end of 2021.

Despite the pandemic, SOS International has managed to retain and attract customers. Our annual customer satisfaction assessment demonstrates a high customer satisfaction level as the overall satisfaction ends at 5.9 on a scale from one to seven.