Danish shipping and passenger ferry company DFDS is celebrating its 150th anniversary by awarding 30 company shares to every employee.

The company has enjoyed steady growth over the past several years, and it said it wanted to recognise the contribution of its employees.

“In recent years, DFDS’s performance has been considerably improved, not least due to the efforts of DFDS’s dedicated employees,” said Bent Østergaard, the chair of the DFDS board of directors.

“To recognise this effort and to strengthen the bond between DFDS and its employees, and as a fitting tribute to DFDS’s 150-year anniversary, the board of directors has decided to award shares to all of its employees.”

Over 7,000 employees are eligible for the award, which is worth 70 million kroner according to the current share price – approximately 10,000 kroner for every employee.

DFDS celebrated its 150th anniversary in December. The company was founded in 1866 by 19th century Danish industrialist CF Tietgen.

Beats another blender
Other Danish companies have been known to be generous with employees around the holidays.

In 2015, Lego delighted its employees by giving them a month’s salary as their Christmas gift.

This past December, IKEA Denmark gifted its employees with a holiday bonus worth up to 130 percent of their monthly salary.