Fincantieri closed the first nine months of 2020 with a gross operating margin equal to 200 million euros, down from the 306 recalculated by the group for a homogeneous comparison with the nine months of last year. The figure discounts the reduction of production volumes of the Italian sites of the group with a Ebitda margin of 5,7%, up from 5% in the first half (7,3% as at 30 September 2019).
The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is striking the revenues, decreased by 16,2% from 4,22 to 3,53 billion euros, with a loss of 3,1 million hours of production compared to those forecast (-19%) and a corresponding lack of progress in revenues in the same period to euro 945 million (790 million relating to the first half only).
It grows by 736 million the debt, which reached 1,425 billion due to the "typical dynamics of working capital relating to the construction of cruise ships, accentuated by the postponement of the delivery date of two cruise ships and part of the commercial collections expected in the period".
With regard to the medium-term prospects, the shipbuilding group writes that "the preservation of the current workload, pursued thanks to the consolidated partnership with its customers, and the ability to meet the challenges dictated by the global context, through the diversification strategy , suggest that the Group will basically be able to return to the levels of growth and profitability incorporated in the current portfolio”.
Moving on to solo third trimester, the ebitda settled at 81 million euro while the margin is at 7%. The two parameters "highlight a recovery in production and substantially in line with that before Covid-19", comments the company.
The shipbuilding group indicates a total backlog of 36,8 billion, approximately 6,3 times the revenues of 2019, with orders acquired for 1,9 billion euro: the backlog at 30 September 2020 is 26,9 billion with 88 vessels in portfolio to be delivered until 2027, and with a soft backlog growing to 9,9 billion.
Speaking of the individual sectors, in shipbuilding the group recorded an EBITDA of 191 million (327 million as at 30 September 2019), with a margin that was affected "by the lower progress of the construction of cruise ships and military programs in Italy" while the cruise of the subsidiary Vard " is substantially at breakeven, in line with the restructuring plan of the subsidiary launched in 2019". The EBITDA of the offshore and special vessels sector "is in balance (-48 million), confirming the choices of the restructuring plan" launched last year". The Systems, Components and Services sector recorded an ebitda of 37 million (55 million).
2021 will be "a year of transition" for Fincantieri while "a new normality" is expected for 2022. This is the comment of the new general manager of Fincantieri, Fabius Gaul, in the conference call on the nine-month results, speaking of the shipbuilding group's prospects dealing with the effects of the pandemic.
The CEO Giuseppe Bono instead he underlined that the results "reflect the difficulties of one of the most delicate historical moments for the world economy and that Fincantieri itself has ever faced". In such an "exceptional" situation - he added - "I believe our ability to look to the future and to ensure stability and continuity of work for the coming years to our shareholders and our other stakeholders should be underlined".
Speaking of business developments, the CEO explained that a very gradual recovery is emerging in cruises, while in the military sector, in addition to the recent prestigious order for ships destined for the US Navy, concrete negotiations are underway with foreign countries for the export of FREMM frigates.
Finally, the company indicated that it has concluded negotiations with client shipowners to reschedule the deadlines for the deliveries of new vessels following the Covid-19 pandemic. The slides released during the conference call show in the timetable 8 cruise ships and 8 military ships to be delivered next year while another 2022 cruise ships and 7 military ships are expected in 8. The overall order book is 88 vessels until 2027 and also includes special vessels and offshore. For the driving sector of cruise ships, Fincantieri indicates the delivery of 10 new ships in 2023.
At Piazza Affari, the Fincantieri share gained 1% to 0,586 euros.
