DFDS: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
DFDS Seaways PLC's person with significant control on the Companies House register is Dfds A/S. In the year to December 2025 DFDS Seaways PLC reported turnover of £78m.
- In the year to December 2025, DFDS had turnover of £78m, up 5.3% on the year before.
- It made a pre-tax profit of £1.2m.
- DFDS Seaways PLC is a freight terminal operator and port agent, running DFDS's UK terminals at Immingham and Felixstowe; its turnover is £66.1m of warehouse and terminal activities and £11.7m of port agency, and in 2025 it was lifted by a transfer pricing change giving it a 5% mark-up. The DFDS ferry routes are run by the Danish parent group (accounts to 31 December 2025, pp. 4, 5, 12 and 27).
- It employed an average of 559 people, with staff costs of £24m.
- These figures are from DFDS Seaways PLC's accounts for the year to December 2025, filed at Companies House on 11 July 2026.
- Registered name
- DFDS SEAWAYS PLC
- Company number
- 01554521
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 2 April 1981
- Registered office area
- Doncaster
- Industry code on the register
- 52101: Warehousing and support activities for transportation
- Accounts
- Single company accounts, this company only
- Accounts type
- Full accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to December 2025, filed 11 July 2026
What does DFDS do?
DFDS Seaways runs the UK operations of DFDS, a Danish ferry and logistics company, including passenger crossings between Dover and France and between Newcastle and Amsterdam. It earns money from passenger and car fares and on-board spending, but mostly from shipping freight and providing logistics for businesses. DFDS was founded in Copenhagen in 1866, and its parent company is listed on the Copenhagen stock exchange.
In brief: ferry and freight shipping · Channel and North Sea routes · logistics · Danish parent
Source: Spark Intel editorial, checked 24 September 2026. Official website: dfds.com.
Who owns DFDS?
The Companies House register records Dfds A/S as the person with significant control of DFDS Seaways PLC, company number 01554521.
The register names an individual, not a company, as its controller.
The full ownership record is on the Companies House register. Control is given in the bands the register uses, not as exact shareholdings.
Who runs DFDS?
The Companies House register lists 5 current officers for DFDS Seaways PLC.
All 5 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Andrew Geoffrey Byrne | 8 January 2018 |
| Jonathan Lowden | 18 January 2023 |
| Karen Dyrskjot Boesen | 17 April 2026 |
| Jonathan Stephen Worrall | 19 May 2026 |
| Hans Helmuth Von Lüttichau | 21 September 2026 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did DFDS file?
DFDS Seaways PLC reported turnover of £78m in the year to December 2025. That was up 5.3% on £74m the year before.
It reported 559 employees. The year before it reported 565.
It filed a pre-tax profit of £1.2m for the year, against a pre-tax loss of £3m the year before.
Staff costs came to £24m. That is an average of £43,000 a head.
| Measure | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £78m | £74m |
| Pre-tax profit | £1.2m (filed) | -£3m (filed) |
| Employees | 559 | 565 |
| Staff costs | £24m | £23m |
| Average staff cost per head | £43,000 | £40,000 |
| Net assets | £5m | £4m |
| Interest paid | £4m | |
| Interest received | £0.2m | |
| Directors' pay | £0.3m |
What these figures cover: DFDS Seaways PLC is a freight terminal operator and port agent, running DFDS's UK terminals at Immingham and Felixstowe; its turnover is £66.1m of warehouse and terminal activities and £11.7m of port agency, and in 2025 it was lifted by a transfer pricing change giving it a 5% mark-up. The DFDS ferry routes are run by the Danish parent group (accounts to 31 December 2025, pp. 4, 5, 12 and 27).
Read the accounts to December 2025 (PDF, Companies House) · every accounts filing
What do these figures mean? Turnover vs profit · Profit per £100 · Cash vs profit · Net assets
How DFDS compares
Of the 4 ferry operators, DFDS is 3rd on turnover, 2nd on profit margin and 2nd on growth. Stena Line keeps the most of every £100 of sales: £6.33.
| Rank | Ferry operators | Turnover | Profit per £100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Stena Line | £591m | £6.33 |
| 3rd | DFDS | £78m | £1.54 |
| + 2 more ferry operators ranked |
Ranked by turnover. Profit per £100 is pre-tax profit for every £100 of turnover, shown only where the profit is filed.
DFDS files as DFDS Seaways PLC, whose person with significant control is Dfds A/S, with turnover of £78m in its latest filed year.
Questions about DFDS
What does DFDS do?
DFDS Seaways runs the UK operations of DFDS, a Danish ferry and logistics company, including passenger crossings between Dover and France and between Newcastle and Amsterdam. It earns money from passenger and car fares and on-board spending, but mostly from shipping freight and providing logistics for businesses. DFDS was founded in Copenhagen in 1866, and its parent company is listed on the Copenhagen stock exchange.
How does DFDS compare with its rivals?
By turnover, DFDS is 3rd of the 4 companies in our battle of the ferry operators, behind Stena Line. The battle ranks them on turnover, pre-tax profit, margin, growth and net assets. The battle of the ferry operators →
Who owns DFDS?
The Companies House register records Dfds A/S as the person with significant control of DFDS Seaways PLC.
How much does DFDS make?
DFDS Seaways PLC reported turnover of £78m in the year to December 2025. It filed a pre-tax profit of £1.2m.
How many people work at DFDS?
DFDS Seaways PLC reported 559 employees in the year to December 2025.
Who runs DFDS?
The Companies House register lists 5 current officers for DFDS Seaways PLC. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from DFDS Seaways PLC's filings at Companies House, company number 01554521, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are single company accounts: they cover this company alone, not any wider group.
- Pre-tax profit is the figure the company filed, for both years.
- A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d. A zero in the filing is treated as not disclosed, never as nil.
- Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, from £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, from £2m to the nearest million.
- Ownership is shown in the control bands the register of people with significant control uses, not as exact shareholdings.
- Officers' names and appointment dates come from the Companies House register. Job titles come from the company's own website. The description of what the company does comes from its website, or is marked Spark Intel editorial where it is written from stable, checked facts, with the date either way.
Spark Intel, “DFDS: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 9 November 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/dfds/. Figures from Companies House filings for DFDS SEAWAYS PLC (01554521).
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