Sund & Bælt Holding A/S Annual Report 3 Digitalisation opens up new opportunities for the benefit of customers and business From 1 January 2018, the government reduced the prices for crossing Storebælt by 15 per cent for anyone using automatic payment. The lower prices meant that the total saving for road users in 2018 was DKK 428 million. There was an overall traffic increase of 2 per cent, while continued low interest rates gave us a good financial result for the year with a profit of DKK 1.8 billion after tax. Although many Danes chose to pay with BroBizz@ during the year or signed up for a PayByPlate@ contract, there are still more than expected who pay in cash or by card. Since automatic payment is three times as fast as card payment, the digital payment solutions are the springboard for us to ensure that road users have an efficient and fast passage through the toll station in the future – even with growing traffic levels. We are continuing, therefore, to make it even more attractive to pay automatically and are in the process of upgrading the toll station to version 2.0. This will mean that the 175,000 plus customers who have already entered into a PayByPlate@ contract can look forward to new express lanes from the autumn when, together with other Bizz customers, they can drive through at 50 km/h. Number plate technology is also an important part of the foundation of the new BroBizz A/S subsidiary, BroBizz Operatør A/S, which was launched in 2017. In bidding for similar tasks and contracts, the company will take advantage of the synergies and knowledge accumulated at Sund & Bælt after some 20 years of experience of payment management at Storebælt. In the autumn of 2018, BroBizz Operatør A/S won the contract for Denmark's first free flow toll system at Frederikssund, which opens in the second half of 2019. Number plate technology is also deployed here and will provide customers with an efficient and simple payment solution at the new user-paid link. Increased digitalisation is at the core of BroBizz A/S' growth strategy. BroBizz A/S continues to operate amid fierce competition in a growing European market of issuer companies that has opened up through EETS. It was therefore an important step for the company when it signed a cooperation agreement with Telepass in December. This means that a new service can be launched: EuroBizz. The new service, which will initially be offered to all road haulage customers, also offers the option of paying for driving in Europe. New digital opportunities also remain the focus for the operation and maintenance of our infrastructure facilities. We are aiming to increase operational efficiency through new technology and thereby increase productivity. The target is to reduce costs by 2 per cent annually over the next five years. This is an ambitious goal because our facilities require increasing maintenance and reinvestments as they age and traffic increases. Consequently, we have been at the forefront of efforts to drive the digital transformation of the operation and maintenance of major infrastructure facilities together with technology partners and other experts. We have long used drones to inspect the massive concrete surfaces of the Storebælt Bridge's anchor blocks. This provides a huge amount of data with which we can analyse very accurately where – and when – there is the need for repair to the damage to the concrete. Together with our technology partners, we have spent the past 12 months fine tuning our data analyses and producing them in visual and intuitive 3D models for the benefit of timely operation and maintenance. The result is that we can benefit further from our large data volumes and get to know and understand our facilities even better. On the Øresund rail line, we are working on an equivalent digitalisation project involving our switches where, via sensors and robots, we are examining the potential for optimising operation and maintenance and thereby also ensuring robust punctuality on the railway. The Fehmarnbelt project is making good progress and 2018 saw a major step closer to the construction phase. Femern A/S received the German regulatory approval ready for signature from the approval authority in Schleswig-Holstein on 28 December 2018. The issue of this approval in Schleswig-Holstein marks a major milestone for the realisation of the Fehmarnbelt project. It means that agreement has been reached between Femern A/S and the relevant German authorities on how the project is to be implemented in specific terms. In addition, Femern A/S finished the preparatory construction activities on the construction site in Rødbyhavn. Some of the many benefits will begin to become apparent even before the link opens. On the Danish side, A/S Femern Landanlæg, with Banedanmark as the client, has been full steam ahead on the upgrade of the railway between Ringsted and Rødbyhavn. It means that, from 2024, the travel time between Copenhagen and Nykøbing Falster will be significantly reduced, which will offer completely new, local development opportunities. The landworks project has made good progress with both budget and schedule meeting expectations. At Sund & Bælt, we are continuing our journey toward the digitalisation of our business. It is a journey that would not have been possible without a huge effort from our employees and their tremendous knowledge and indomitable will to follow the path to the future – for the benefit of our customers and Danish society as a whole. Peter Frederiksen Chairman Sund & Bælt Holding A/S Mikkel Hemmingsen CEO Sund & Bælt Holding A/S
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