Ferretti continues strong financial performance

The strong 2018 fiscal performance of the Ferretti Group, now comprising eight brands following the acquisition of Wally earlier this year, has continued into the first half of 2019. Complementing this is a €350m increase in capital from the group’s two shareholders, Weichai and Ferrari, and the prospect of an IPO about which a decision still has to be made.

At Ferretti’s annual Cannes Yachting Festival press conference, managing director Alberto Galassi explained that the decision about an IPO still has to be taken by the two shareholders. This is expected before the end of the year. He said: “If the decision is taken to go for the IPO it would be all about supporting further growth.”

In the first six months of 2019, Ferretti’s production value reached €358m, up 6.5% on the €336m recorded in the first six months of 2018. In June 2019, the order backlog reached a value of €653m, an increase of 19.0% compared with the June 2018 position. Galassi commented: “I cannot give the actual number but I can tell you that the EBITDA in the first half grew by double digits.”

This performance followed on from the successful 2018 result which comprised a €669m production value, a profit after tax of €30.7m and an EBITDA of €53.4m.

Galassi also presented the news that the capital of the Ferretti group has been boosted by €250m as loans to this value which had been paid back were converted into equity made up of €212m for Weichai and €40m from Ferrari. “This means we have no debt,” he strongly emphasised. “In 2009 Ferretti had debts totalling around €1bn but today we are debt-free.”

The boosted equity takes the form of a new asset structure of Ferretti SpA. As a confirmation of the constant support, the main shareholder, Weichai Group, converted a shareholder loan of approximately €212m through an equivalent capital increase. At the same time, Piero Ferrari and Adtech Advanced Technologies signed investment agreements that provide for the injection in Ferretti SpA of a total of €40m through share capital increases.

“We continue to invest in our facilities,” Galassi continued. “We have expanded at Forli and La Spezia and we have acquired two companies but we cannot give information now.” He spoke also of the development of Ferretti’s Superyacht Yard at Ancona which reflects the group’s fast growing superyacht sector involvement which has expanded from just one brand – CRN – to four with the addition of Pershing, Riva and Custom Line. As part of developing this facility, five new sheds have been built and a 3,000-tonne capacity synchrolift is coming in 2021.

The current facility portfolio includes:

• Ancona: 73,000sq m working with Riva, Pershing, CRN, Custom Line and Wally
• La Spezia: 30,000sq m working on Riva
• Mondolfo: 45,000sq m working on Pershing and Itama
• Cattalolica: 12,000sq m working on Ferretti Yachts
• Forli: 39,000sq m working on Ferretti Yachts, Wally, Itama and Mochi
• Sarnico: 43,000sq m working on Riva

Galassi particularly spoke of the strength of Custom Line and the significant contribution it is making to group results.

In terms of total Ferretti group sales, COO Stefano de Vivo explained that yacht sales globally generated some 82% of revenues with the EMEA region accounting for 45%, the Americas for 22% and APAC for 15%. Other revenues came from a number of sources including the Ferretti Security Division and these totalled 18% of the full revenues. Supporting this network are eight Ferretti Group international offices and 74 dealers.

Excluding CRN, the other seven Ferretti brands provide craft between 30ft-139ft comprising 43 serial models. With this size spread broken down into four parts, the seven brands offer 43 different serial models of which Wally accounts for one, Ferretti Yachts eight, Pershing seven, Itama three, Riva 14, Mochi four and Custom Line six.

Out of the 43 models, 34 or 80% have been introduced in the 2015-19 period. This has resulted in the average age of models falling 32% in the 2015-19 period from 6.3 years to 4.3 years.

“At Cannes, the nautical championship is beginning and we are presenting ourselves at our best, with the exciting beauty of a fleet of 26 boats and the quiet strength of an increasingly solid financial situation,” said Galassi.

“At Cannes we are lining up our stars,” he added. “Six world premiere boats for which we have already received important orders. Ferretti Yachts 720, the 48 Wallytender and the Riva Dolceriva, as well as the Riva 90’ Argo, Pershing 8X and Custom Line 106, are the spearheads of the Ferretti Group, a healthy and very determined team.”