Fincantieri is on the right path thanks to its Defense business. But it has not yet reached its goal: in 2023 the shipbuilding group, controlled by the Treasury, remains at a loss of 53 million euros. On the other hand, the figure is a marked improvement compared to the red of 324 million in the previous year. Furthermore the company recorded a marked increase in EBITDA which stood at 397 million (+79.6%) on revenues that grew by 2.8% to 7.65 billion.
The adjusted net result, excluding income and expenses external to ordinary operations and non-recurring (61 million concern disputes for asbestos damage), was still negative for 7 million (-108 million a year ago). Gross margin on revenues increased to 5.2% from 3% in 2022.
The order book is growing
New orders acquired in 2023 amounted to 6.6 billion, up 23.9% (book-to-bill at 0.9) and the order book was 23 billion (34.7 billion including options, letters of intent and orders under negotiation).
The contribution that came from theoffshore and special vesselswith a strong acceleration of orders for cable-laying vessels in December, and of defense businessa sector whose trend is expected to grow also in 2024, thanks to the opportunities emerging from the international geopolitical context.
Cash generation is good: the figure is in fact positive for 201 million (-672 million in 2022). Thus for 2024 Fincantieri confirmed the guidance of 8 billion in revenues (approximately +4.5%) and a margin of around 6% as well as forecasting that the financial leverage will be between 5.5 and 6.5 times at the end of 2024 (6-7 times the estimate in the 23-27 plan). The net financial position improved (10.3%) as at 31 December 2023 and was negative by 2.27 billion (5.7 times the ebitda).
Pierroberto Folgiero
A first assessment
“In the first year of the new Business Plan we built and implemented a significant increase in profitability: Ebitda grew by 80% compared to 2022 to almost 400 million euros. The Ebitda margin rose to 5.2% from 3.0% last year. Cash generation was higher than expectations leading to an improvement in the net financial position” explained theaCEO and general director of Fincantieri, Pierroberto Folgiero.
“These results are the result of financial discipline and solid operational performance in military and civil shipbuilding and a strong recovery in commercial activity in the Offshore and Special Vessels sector. Own the Offshore segment saw an acceleration in new orders in December. Overall, in 2023 we acquired 6.6 billion, compared to 5.3 billion in 2022. For these results I thank all the people at Fincantieri who delivered 26 ships in the year despite emerging from a period of industrial congestion as well as promoting the strategic objectives of the new industrial plan with professionalism and determination” he added.
Cautious optimism for the current year
“The 2024 guidance sees revenues of approximately 8 billion euros, up 4.5% respecting the targets of the Industrial Plan presented in May 2023, an EBITDA margin of around 6%, continuously growing in line with the targets of the Plan and a NFP that accelerates deleveraging compared to the initial objectives” concluded the manager.