Annual Report 2010 - Falck

12 Falck Annual Report 2010 | Management review
Assistance
Assistance provides customers with security and
peace of mind through advice, prevention and fast
assistance. In 2010, this business generated both
revenue growth and organic growth, and 500,000
new customers were added
• 1.5 million responses in 2010 – a year-on-year increase of 12%
• Swedish company Smart Safety, which safeguards homes
and property, now a part of Falck
• 25,000 new automobile subscribers in Sweden
• One in three new alarm systems sold in Denmark was a
Falck Alarm.
2,500
Falck’s assistance services provide customers with the greatest
possible security and peace of mind, either by preventing accidents
or by providing fast and competent assistance should an
accident occur.
Services include roadside, person, home and travel assistance
and are mostly based on subscriptions for individual, business
and public-sector customers.
Falck’s Assistance business is concentrated in four Nordic countries
(Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland) and in Estonia as
well.
The year 2010 saw huge amounts of snow throughout the Nordic
region in January, February, November and December. This
meant that many car owners with automobile subscriptions
needed assistance, and Falck rescue staff and dispatch centre
staff worked hard to help people under the extreme weather
conditions. The severe winter weather resulted in a good inflow
of new subscription customers.
In Denmark and Sweden, earnings were temporarily adversely
affected by the severe winter weather due to customers’ increased
use of roadside subscription responses, whereas earnings
rose temporarily in Norway, Finland and Estonia, where responses
are to a great extent provided on a pay-per-use basis.
busses are now equiped with Falck Sirius Eco Drive, a fleet management system
which promotes more environmentally friendly and economical driving.