
positioned with the JabraEnhance.com channel and the Jabra Enhance
portfolio.
Additionally, GN Hearing is well positioned to capture growth and mar-
ket share in the strategically important Managed Care Organizations in
the U.S., which include major insurance carriers, Medicaid programs,
healthcare benefit programs, and more. In Europe, GN Hearing deliv-
ered strong growth. Asia continued to be slowed by COVID-19, while
we won an important tender as main supplier to the biggest single cus-
tomer in Australia with over 100,000 hearing aids distributed per year
commencing in early 2023.
These positive developments will allow GN Hearing to capture market
share in the prescription-based hearing aid markets, which we already
saw happening in late 2022, and in the emerging markets, where e.g.
JabraEnhance.com delivered 73% organic growth.
GN Audio - strong market positions and growing markets
For GN Audio and its enterprise business, we also see lots of growth op-
portunities and very strong market positions. All the underlying trends
driving our business are there, suffering a temporary setback, espe-
cially in markets directly impacted by consumer sentiments. We are
taking share in professionals, contact center, and gaming, and still have
a major opportunity ahead of us in video collaboration, which is one of
the new sustained investment and growth areas.
Also, we are ready to further expand with our FalCom business, which
provides integrated hearing protection and communications solutions
for special operations, military, law enforcement, and security person-
nel who all depend on optimal perception in extreme environments.
And we aspire to address frontline workers as unified communication
and collaboration is moving beyond the office with an estimated two
billion workers potentially needing professional communication tools.
GN Audio right now offers the most comprehensive and competitive
product portfolio ever. And we now see the supply chain issues around
the world improving, so our growth will be supported by better product
availability.
With the macro-environment continuing to be a challenge short term,
we focus on our organizational readiness, transform our setup, and
strengthen our portfolio in order to capture market share.
Changes to Executive Management and Board of Directors
As of January 2 this year, Peter Karlstromer joined as new CEO of GN
Audio, following the retirement of René Svendsen-Tune. Together with
GN Audio’s strong leadership team, talented employees, and agile or-
ganization, the Board is convinced that Peter Karlstromer with his
strong international leadership track record is well suited to take GN
Audio further and take advantage of the great opportunities in front of
us. The Board sincerely thanks René for his services to the company,
among other, taking GN Audio from a marginal DKK 3.2 billion audio-
only company to a world-leading DKK 12.5 billion market leading inno-
vative technology company.
Further, GN in December 2022 announced Søren Jelert as new CFO for
the GN Group, replacing Peter la Cour Gormsen when he leaves GN in
Q2 of 2023. Peter has throughout seven years actively supported GN
Audio’s remarkable growth journey, for which the Board sincerely
thanks him. We are very pleased to have attracted such an experienced
and strong financial leader as Søren Jelert to take over as our new CFO.
Finally, at the Annual General Meeting in March, Jukka Pekka Pertola
will be recommended to replace me as Chair of the Board. It has been
my pleasure to serve this great company for the past 15 of its 150-year
legacy – taking it from a loss-making DKK 6 billion revenue company in
2008 to a highly profitable DKK 18.7 billion company. I’m also pleased
that Klaus Holse has offered to stand for election as he will further
strengthen the Board upon my departure.
Strategic direction confirmed
This Annual Report is our first to integrate reporting on our financial,
environmental, social, and governance performance, documenting that
we in 2022 also made significant progress on sustainability and diver-
sity. As we confirm GN’s strategic direction, focus, and priorities, the
Board is confident that GN is well-equipped and positioned to weather
the immediate storm and get back as a growth company as soon as the
world has stabilized again. In difficult times, we will double down on
our purpose of bringing people closer, working for the benefit of our
customers, investors, and other stakeholders. GN has endured multiple
world crises throughout its 153-year history, reinvented itself many
times before, and today is more relevant than ever.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank our outgoing
management for their dedicated service to the company over many
years, and to bid welcome to our new management team that will take
GN through the next chapters of the company’s history. As I’m step-
ping down I would like to also
express my sincere gratitude to
my current and past colleagues
on the Board, and to the thou-
sands of engaged and talented
GN managers and employees
across the world who tirelessly
– despite many challenges –
work to benefit our customers
with world-class products and
services.
Per Wold-Olsen,
Chairman of the Board