The key points
- In 2021, Zegna’s revenues reached 1.3 billion, with an EBIT of 10%
- In the best-case scenario, the group would exceed two billion by 2023
- The group expects more than half of its main raw materials to be fully traceable by 2026
The synthesis of the message launched by Zegna for the capital market day lies in a sentence in English that loses some of its effectiveness in Italian: “We are a 112 years young company”, which we could translate as “we have 112 years of youth behind us” . In other words: our history will never be a ballast, but a springboard towards the future. On the other hand, the place of the presentation, broadcast in live streaming for investors and analysts from all over the world, is very Italian, the Oasi Zegna, an endless green space on the Biella hills. For those connected from New York, where Zegna has been listed since December 2021, the presentation made a comparison with Central Park, 1.3 square miles: the Zegna Oasis, 38.6 square miles, is thirty times larger and as of 1910, the year the group was founded, over 500,000 trees were planted there.
However, there are also many other numbers that project the group in the coming years, explained the CEO and president Gildo Zegna and Gianluca Tagliabue, CFO of the group. The medium-term objective is to exceed two billion in revenues, with an ebit of at least 15%, while maintaining a capex of 5% on turnover. Ambitious but realistic goals: in 2021, Zegna’s revenues touched 1.3 billion (with an EBIT of approximately 10%), growing by 27% compared to 2020 and in the first quarter they reached almost 380 million (+ 25.4% on period January-March 2021). Zegna and Tagliabue said that by “medium term” we mean 4-5 years: caution required, given the global economic and geopolitical scenario. But we could also be more optimistic: assuming a growth of 25% for the entire year and the next, it would reach 1.6 billion at the end of 2022 and exceed two billion by 2023.
Numbers that could change in the event of acquisitions, some analysts have suggested: “What we can say is that during this year we will announce three collaborations and related capsules – specified Gildo Zegna – while we have no plans to acquire other companies in the supply chain, even if we are very satisfied with the operations carried out so far and with having strengthened the textile, knitwear and footwear parts, which in 2021 have grown a lot, like all leather goods, which are worth 15% of turnover “.
Alongside Gildo Zegna and CFO Tagliabue were Edoardo and Angelo, the thirty-year-old sons of the CEO, and Rodrigo Bazan, CEO of Thom Browne, a brand acquired in 2018 and which in the first quarter of 2022 grew by 22.3%, reaching almost 100 million euros. Representatives of the fourth generation of the Zegna family were given the task of going into detail on the news on the ESG and omnichannel theme: Edoardo is chief digital marketing and sustainability officer, while Angelo, who lives in New York, is consumer and retail experience director, role strategic, given that the group has a network of over 500 stores in 80 countries, 295 of which are directly managed (244 for Zegna and 51 for Thom Browne).
Among the ESG objectives, the group expects that by 2026 over half of its main raw materials will be fully traceable, to reach more than 95% by 2030. Starting next year, Zegna will also plant 10,000 trees in every city where it will open or relocate its stores, in an ideal link with Oasi Zegna. New managerial figures will be created to develop programs and strategies on equal opportunities, inclusion and combating climate change.