Listen to the audio version of the article
There is less than a month left until the start of the Milan Furniture Fair, which will be held from 16 to 23 April: the Italian companies that will exhibit at the fair, in addition to being present in the city with events and initiatives open to all, are arriving at the appointment most important of the year after a difficult period for the sector, which slowed down in 2023, above all due to the international geopolitical situation.
But there are also exceptions and one of these is Sicis of Ravenna, with global leadership in mosaics for furniture and jewellery. In 2023, consolidated revenues increased by 8% to 50 million: a doubly positive figure, considering on the one hand the negative macroeconomic context and on the other the effects of the flood in May last year, which heavily affected the company , underlines Marcello Tassinari, managing director of Sicis. «In 2023 there was a significant progression in turnover and margins despite the catastrophic event that hit us, together with the whole of Romagna – explains Tassinari -. It was the financial solidity and strong determination of the founding shareholder, Leo Placuzzi, and of all the employees that allowed us to recover from the terrible flood.” Sicis continued to invest in 2023, before and after the flood (which caused almost a month of machine downtime), allocating around three million to marketing, communication and participation in international trade fairs, while expenses for research and development have exceeded 10% of turnover.
Tassinari then analyzes profitability: «The adjusted EBITDA, i.e. neutralizing investments in marketing and communication and the extraordinary effects mainly linked to the flood, would have reached 18% of turnover, an increase of approximately 3% compared to 2022». The first signs of 2024, for Sicis, are positive: «The climate of global uncertainty that characterized the whole of 2023 has certainly not changed, on the contrary – underlines the managing director of the company -. But we remain cautiously optimistic thanks to a robust order book covering both surfaces and furniture and the jewelery division. The medium-term objective, in agreement with the Placuzzi family, remains to double the turnover in the next three-five years, continuing to invest in marketing and distribution”.
In recent weeks Sicis has signed a contract as the exclusive supplier of the mosaics that will be used for the roofs of an ecolodge built on an artificial island created by Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea. «The project was designed by one of the most important international architecture firms, Foster + Partners – reveals Tassinari – and is based on innovative and stringent sustainability and eco-compatibility criteria, fields where the Saudis are at the forefront».
Returning to jewels, under the creative direction of Gioia Placuzzi, the Sicis Jewels division is expected to grow by 20% in 2024, in particular thanks to the success of the collections in Asia and the Middle East. The next appointment is in April at Haute Jewels, the exclusive Geneva fair dedicated to high jewellery, in which Sicis is participating for the third consecutive year.