Louis Nielsen A/S

The Group's principal activities The Group's principal activities consist in trade with spectacles, contact lenses and other accessories from it's 80 stores. The Parent Company owns shares in the store companies together with two store partners. The Parent Company always has the share majority of the store company, and it delivers the brand concept, such as product, IT, training, marketing and also a service package to the store company which includes accounting, payroll, tax advice etc. Development in activities and the financial situation The Group's Income Statement of the financial year 1 March 2022 - 28 February 2023 shows a result of DKK 99.988 and the Balance Sheet of the Group at 28 February 2023 a balance sheet total of DKK 601.312 and an equity of DKK 413.636. Development and changes in the global retail climate have impacted Louis Nielsen’s financial performance. Consumer spending ability and market confidence have been directly affected by a rise in inflation, ultimately resulting in a profit decrease for the financial year 2022-23 in the Louis Nielsen Group. Net profit/loss for the year compared with expected developments in the most recently published annual report The Group's have experienced a decrease in turnover at 2% against an expected increase at 0-10% and a decrease in profit after tax at DKK 49 mio. against an expected decrease at DKK 10-20 mio. The decrease in turnover and profit is a consequence of macroeconomic changes across the entire Danish retail market making consumers more hesitant and making cost of operation go up. Further to that, the COVID-19 pandemic created a pent-up consumer need following quarantines, which has offset the traditional repurchase cycle. It is expected that a natural correction could mitigate this during the current financial year, however this is still very much subject to volatility in overall economic factors influenced by outside world events. Expectations for the future The group expects an increase in revenue at 0-5% and a profit at same level as compared to this year. This expectation is based on the current global outlook within local and international retail climates, financial development in own market (interest rate development, inflation development), and expected consumer purchasing power sensitivity to macroeconomic changes. Knowledge and know-how resources It is important for the Group to be able to attract and retain the suitable well-educated labor, not least authorized opticians, representing the professional foundation in all stores. This is driven by an array of initiatives and programs including inhouse training and development (both retail and clinical) as well as; * Exclusive collaboration with the IBC (International Business College), where there is a bespoke education exclusively for Louis Nielsen trainees * Internal virtual and physical learning/training options, including courses within personal development, management development, clinical training etc. * Internal "partner development" training courses that develops own store talent to become store partners * External Louis Nielsen events (Clinical Conference, Science Slam etc.), where professionals from across the industry meet for lectures, key notes, workshops, entertainment and more * Leading the first and only second opinion system in the Danish optics industry. This connects optometrists directly with ophthalmologists in the ongoing health effort (comprehensive sight tests) and makes sure that patients are diagnosed and referred correctly and swiftly, while enabling Louis Nielsen optometrists to take away key learnings and experiences from the professional collaboration with eye doctors * External messaging about the continuous positive recognition and acknowledgement of the Louis Nielsen brand among consumers, existing employees, and suppliers, including prices for best customers service, great place to work, marketing awards etc. * A special focus on the Louis Nielsen employer brand supported by the announcement of Louis Nielsen as the best workplace in Denmark 2023, certified and awarded by Great Place To Work Financial Risks The group has no significant financial risks as the group has no loans from external banks and all trade is mainly in DKK. The group has no financial assets which are in risk of impairment. Post financial year events No events have occurred which may change the financial position of the Parent Company and the Group substantially. Target figures and policies for the underrepresented gender The Company's Board of Directors is presently made up of 57% men and 43% women, which is considered an equal split in gender. Other management levels are presently made up of 50% men and 50% women. As the gender composition of all management levels are at least 40% of the underrepresented gender, there is no requirement to have a target figure or a policy that contains specific measures to reach the target. Statement on Corporate Social Responsibility General information on Corporate Social Responsibility Louis Nielsen's policies in any CSR related areas are by virtue of being a subsidiary of a global supply chain / retail chain covered by the group's policies and procedures including environment and climate, human rights, social matters, corruption prevention and more. More information including key figures and ongoing ambitions can be found in the Specsavers Annual Review 2022/23 here: https://www.louisnielsen.dk/om-louis-nielsen/en-del-af-specsavers. Information concerning application of code of conduct The first and foremost responsibility of each employee of the group is to abide by the group's policies on business conduct. Each employee must comply not only with the letter of these policies, but also with their spirit. Louis Nielsen/Specsavers' policies and, by virtue of being a subsidiary, those of the group, form the foundation of a comprehensive process that includes compliance with policies and procedures, an open relationship among colleagues to foster good business conduct, and a high level of integrity. The group's policies and procedures cover all major areas of professional conduct, including employment practices, conflicts of interest and the protection of confidential information, and require strict adherence to laws and regulations applicable to the conduct of business. Employees are required to report any conduct that they believe in good faith to be an actual or apparent violation of the group's policies on business conduct. The group's directors are required to comply with the group's business conduct and ethical policies that help foster a culture of honesty and accountability. Louis Nielsen/Specsavers has procedures to retrieve, retain and treat complaints received regarding accounting or auditing matters and to allow for the confidential and anonymous submission by employees of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters. The safety of Louis Nielsen/Specsavers' employees and all those working on its various sites continues to be a key focus area for the Louis Nielsen/Specsavers. The group regularly reviews its safety policies, which are aimed at ensuring that the group has a robust approach to product safety across Europe, including compliance with contractual, legal and regulatory requirements in local jurisdictions. Louis Nielsen/Specsavers remains committed to continuing to identify and address risks of modern slavery in our operations and supply chains. Within our operations, we have adopted government regulations regarding social distancing and ensuring our workers have the relevant PPE available. We continue to support our suppliers by paying for orders already in production, and therefore attempting to reduce the risk of non-payment of workers. We expect all suppliers to continue to adhere to our ethical trading standards, and our audit program will continue during 2023/24. Business model At Louis Nielsen/Specsavers, we have always believed that we are stronger together. That's why we created our joint venture approach, meaning our business operates under joint venture. In the Louis Nielsen/Specsavers joint venture model, Louis Nielsen/Specsavers owns shares in the store company together with two store partners. Louis Nielsen/Specsavers always has the share majority of the store company, and it delivers the brand concept, such as product, IT, training, marketing and also a service package to the store company which includes accounting, payroll, tax advice etc. This means that Louis Nielsen/Specsavers has full visibility of all activities in the store company, including staff numbers. Our joint venture partnership model ensures that the optometrists can concentrate on providing expert eye care to their customers while being endorsed with the Louis Nielsen/Specsavers brand. Consequently, the joint venture partnership model and the fact that we own most of our supply chain, allows us to provide affordable eye care for everyone, as the cost savings are passed onto the consumers. The Louis Nielsen/Specsavers joint venture partnership is based on mutual trust and understanding, which are values that also underpin the way we work with our colleagues and suppliers. Environment and climate Louis Nielsen/Specsavers is committed to taking responsibility for the impact our business has on the environment and has adopted a risk-based approach to understanding, minimising and mitigating this impact. This is conducted in line with our values and the responsibilities we have to our customers and our people, as well as our obligations in the countries in which we operate. Louis Nielsen/Specsavers periodically reviews and improves efforts to lessen impact on the environment, nurture a workplace of diversity and inclusion, adopt and monitor continually improved HSE policies, conduct responsible business practices, and uphold the highest ethical standards in everything we do. We recognise that the consumption of energy, the use of non-renewable resources, water, plastics and packaging, and waste creation are all things we need to monitor and reduce in every part of our business: * Group Level manufacturing and distribution sites have a significant carbon impact through energy use, with the additional elements of water, packaging and waste. * Our support offices also contribute to our carbon impact by using energy for administration and IT infrastructure. * Our environmental programme is an important element of our corporate responsibility approach. We understand that both global and local environmental issues can have a wide-reaching and long-term effect on our society, now and in the future. By virtue of being a subsidiary, Louis Nielsen adopts any group-wide continuously launched climate- and sustainability initiatives and ambitions. The Specsavers Group has announced that Specsavers are aiming to reach carbon net zero status in 2050, which means reducing our carbon emissions by at least 90% and mitigating the residual 10% of emissions, or less, with quality carbon offsets. This will involve reduction of operational emissions, focusing on the materials we use, their production method, their transportation, and our packaging as well as focusing on what happens to our products when they reach the end of their life. For more information and key figures please visit the Specsavers Annual review 2022-23 page 39-42 here: https://www.louisnielsen.dk/om-louis-nielsen/en-del-af-specsavers We also require our suppliers to take the necessary steps to protect the environment in accordance with our new Supplier Code of Conduct that helps to drive better sustainable production practices through strong collaboration and sharing of best practice. The formal governance of the Specsavers environmental program and the wider sustainability agenda is delivered through the Specsavers senior executive sustainability governance. The SESG committee will agree the material issues to be addressed and the corresponding overall objectives. These group objectives are then delivered through regional, country or function-based programs of activity. Human rights Trading ethically is integral to the way we operate. We work to ensure the people who make our products have safe and healthy workplaces, where human and civil rights are respected. For more information on people policies and projects please visit the Specsavers Annual review 2022-23 page 10 and 42 here: https://www.louisnielsen.dk/om-louis-nielsen/en-del-af-specsavers We are committed to our global ethical trading policy and ensure regular, independent audits of all our major suppliers who do not operate in globally-recognised regulatory environments. Primarily our products come from globally-recognised regulatory environments or factories situated in low and medium-risk countries. We continue to monitor activity in these countries to ensure that slavery and human trafficking does not exist in our supply chain. Social- and employee related matters People Our people are committed to doing the little things that matter, better, every day. The sum of which is our stellar performance, sustained over many years. Our ethos is to offer inspiring development and fantastic opportunities to help our 80 stores in Denmark, more than 2,600 stores worldwide, and more than 41,000 colleagues to continuously make a difference, either by serving customers or supporting partners and their teams . An inclusive workplace values and provides equal opportunity to everyone regardless of differences. At Louis Nielsen/Specsavers we recognise the benefits of embracing a diverse and inclusive workforce, in terms of better business performance, more engaged employees, enhanced employer brand and greater innovation Since 2017 we have been driving our global diversity and inclusion programme with the Louis Nielsen/Specsavers Executive Commitee devoting time to explore 'unconscious bias'. We have partnered with a worldwide diversity and inclusion organisation to develop and deliver bespoke training. This has included facilitating workshops for our leadership population, interactive online workshops for our managers, as well as building and launching digital development tools for all employee's. In 2022, Louis Nielsen/Specsavers launched a comprehensive global diversity and inclusion plan designed to help us work towards our aim of true inclusivity. This involves ensuring everyone role models and contributes to an inclusive environment. Further information can be found in the Specsavers Annual Review 2022/23 page 10. Great Place To Work certified In 2023 Louis Nielsen A/S was not only certified as an official Great Place To Work by the international Great Place To Work Institute via an internal employee survey diving into work place culture. The company was also listed as the best workplace in Denmark with +500 employees. This is an extremely coveted and honorable award, only made possible by an organization populated by dedicated and skilled people. Supporting local communities At Louis Nielsen/Specsavers, we are passionate about giving back to and working with our local communities, wherever in the world we operate. We support many local, national and international causes, and are committed to supporting eyecare and hearing care projects in developing countries. For more information on support to communities please visit the Specsavers Annual Review 2022-23 page 34 here: https://www.louisnielsen.dk/om-louis-nielsen/en-del-af-specsavers From a country perspective Louis Nielsen has been prioritizing annual donation campaigns to support a deserving cause, which in the past has included donating money to the Danish Blind Association for eye disease research and to LykkeLiga, the only sports league in Denmark specifically for developmentally challenged children, many of whom are born with severe sight impairment. In 2022/23 these charity activities have included donating more than DKK 100,000 to different initiatives on top of driving our own support initiatives with free glasses for different groups in need. These activities will only be widened in scope during the financial year of 2023/24. Anti-corruption - part of trading ethically Since 2008 Louis Nielsen/Specsavers has had a supplier ethical trading code of conduct in place, which enshrines the key requirements of: obeying all applicable laws, treating people with dignity and respect, protecting the environment and complying with anti-bribery and corruption policies. Among other things this includes running communications events with key suppliers, providing clarity in our supplier contracts (both in terms of compliance to internationally recognized standards and in the event of non-compliance), completing compliance renewal audits and much more. Some of the progress in 2022-23 includes 66 audits of suppliers, consulting suppliers to better understand ethical and sustainable standards and more. For more information please visit the Specsavers Annual Review 2022-23 page 43. Expectations for the future Governments, regulators, and consumers have increasing expectations of brands to act in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. In 2023/24, Specsavers will: * Enhance the way we manage ethical trading compliance in our supply chain and across our global estate. * Focus primarily on supply chain risks associated with employment standards, working environments, business practices, and environmental impacts. * Deliver new policies, processes, and training to stakeholders to effectively manage these risks. * Identify and address any key ethical trading risks in our current supply chain. Non-financial KPIs In the Louis Nielsen and Specsavers Group there are many areas of the business that have been identified to support overall growth and business sustainability through initiatives and projects with non-financial key performance indicators (KPIs). Two major areas are; * Employee satisfaction, to ensure a productive and efficient business through a positive, people-oriented, growth-minded, diverse and inclusive culture * Customer satisfaction, to ensure a sustainable high level of repeat business through high (and always improving) customer service levels Key indicators for the above areas are (not limited to) two major highlights. For employee satisfaction, the Great Place To Work survey is a integral tool and framework for continuous improvement and success within culture and work environment. For more information on Great Place To Work in Louis Nielsen, please see section “Great Place To Work: Louis Nielsen is the best workplace in Denmark”. For customer satisfaction a wide array of internal training programs supports the Louis Nielsen customer promise to always deliver excellent service. One of several key indicators is the public and widely used review platform TrustPilot, where Louis Nielsen with a customer rating at 4.5 out of 5 from more than 21,000 reviews is leading customer satisfaction in Danish retail optics. Data ethics At the Louis Nielsen Group the official data ethics policy is encapsulated in the at any and all times applicable legislation on data storage and data handling, including marketing purposes, healthcare purposes and otherwise. As a business in the retail healthcare industry Louis Nielsen data ethics and use adheres to the official marketing act and the official health record act. Louis Nielsen's commitment to correct data collection, use, and storage applies to employees as well as partners, customers and suppliers. Data security and data protection is an integral part of Louis Nielsen's business practices at any given time. Appropriate measures have been taken to ensure that data is stored responsibly, and to continuously ensure that data is processed and stored in a secure manner. Data is only processed and stored for legitimate business and healthcare purposes regulated by law, serving the interests of the parties involved.

Development in activities and the financial situation The Group's Income Statement of the financial year 1 March 2022 - 28 February 2023 shows a result of DKK 99.988 and the Balance Sheet of the Group at 28 February 2023 a balance sheet total of DKK 601.312 and an equity of DKK 413.636. Development and changes in the global retail climate have impacted Louis Nielsen’s financial performance. Consumer spending ability and market confidence have been directly affected by a rise in inflation, ultimately resulting in a profit decrease for the financial year 2022-23 in the Louis Nielsen Group. , Development in activities and the financial situation The Group's Income Statement of the financial year 1 March 2022 - 28 February 2023 shows a result of DKK 99.988 and the Balance Sheet of the Group at 28 February 2023 a balance sheet total of DKK 601.312 and an equity of DKK 413.636. Development and changes in the global retail climate have impacted Louis Nielsen’s financial performance. Consumer spending ability and market confidence have been directly affected by a rise in inflation, ultimately resulting in a profit decrease for the financial year 2022-23 in the Louis Nielsen Group.