President's Letter
2024 was a year marked by meaningful progress and positive developments across General Oceans. Our teams embraced new opportunities, overcame challenges and collaborated on exciting projects, positioning us strongly for the year ahead.
At the beginning of the year, three of our brands faced significant challenges – struggling with product quality issues, operating without strong leadership, and requiring strategic review.
Our primary focus throughout the year was to address these longstanding challenges and establish a sustainable foundation for the future. As of January 2025, we are pleased to report that we have successfully completed 90% of this work. All three companies now benefit from a solid backlog, professional management, and a well-defined product strategy that positions them for long-term success.
Meanwhile, Nortek and Tritech continued to thrive in 2024. As the two largest entities within our group, their performance played a critical role in stabilizing our overall financial results. Total group revenue for the year reached NOK 957.1 million, while EBIT ended at NOK 68.2 million, 12.7% below 2023 normalised EBIT.
Despite this shortfall, these earnings were instrumental in offsetting the losses incurred by Klein, SRS, and Reach Robotics. We extend our sincere appreciation to the Nortek and Tritech teams for their extraordinary dedication and contributions to the group’s overall success.
A key milestone in 2024 was the launch of CASCADE, our annual conference. The inaugural event in London brought together over 50 employees from across our brands to share best practices in development, production, sales, and marketing. In 2025, the conference will be held in Boston, further fostering collaboration across our teams.
Additionally, we are enhancing internal connectivity by encouraging development engineers to engage in cross-company projects and strengthening joint efforts in sales and marketing.
On the international front, we have established General Oceans Singapore, where our first employee will divide his time between Tritech and Nortek and will be joined by a colleague from Klein, reinforcing our presence in the region.
In late 2024, we welcomed RS Aqua, a leading distributor of subsea products in the British Isles, into the General Oceans family. This strategic acquisition significantly strengthens our presence in the UK, where we now have nearly 100 employees across five locations.
Looking ahead to 2025, we are optimistic about shifting our focus from stabilization to growth. The defense market continues to expand, with several of our companies securing long-term contracts with defense primes. The offshore wind sector remains robust, and the increasing demand for ROVs and AUVs is driving strong growth in the subsea navigation market.
Regarding the anticipated U.S. tariff wars, we remain hopeful that we will navigate any potential impacts, as we successfully did during the initial tariff disputes between 2018 and 2020. Our financial outlook for 2025 is strong, and we anticipate all six brands to be profitable, with topline growth driven by increased product sales in addition to potential expansion through new mergers and acquisitions.
As we move forward, we remain committed to fostering innovation, strengthening our market position, and driving sustainable growth. We appreciate the dedication of our employees, the trust of our customers, and the continued support of our stakeholders. Together, we are building a resilient and thriving General Oceans.