The sharp increase in financial charges weighs on Fincantieri's first half of 2015: the company announced that it closed it with a net profit attributable to the group down to 12 million compared to 24 million in the same period of 2014, while the net result for the year was negative by 19 million from the 33 million net profit of the first half of 2014.
As mentioned, financial charges weighed particularly heavily: they rose to 62 million (28 million in the same period of 2014). Revenues, on the other hand, grew to 2,22 billion from 1,98 in the first half of 2014, orders rose to 4,17 billion (about 3,48 billion in 2014) and the order portfolio that is close to 16 billion. Ebitda fell to 128 million from 142 in 2014, with an ebitda margin down to 5,8% (7,1% at 30 June 2014), while ebit fell to 74 million (93 million in 2014). The net financial position is negative by 220 million, while it was positive by 44 million at the end of 2014. The change - explains the note from the group - is mainly attributable to the increase in financial requirements resulting from the increase in the activities of the business area of cruise ships.
"As far as military ships are concerned - the press release explains - the year will be characterized by reduced production volumes, even if the activities for the fleet renewal program of the Italian Navy. Furthermore, the company continues to be engaged in negotiations with the trade union organizations for the renewal of the supplementary agreement in Italy which, after being extended for two years after the original deadline and after lengthy discussions starting from the beginning of this year, was canceled on 30 March 2015. Fincantieri - continues the note - hopes that union relations can be achieved that are more suitable for competing in a global market, having raised as a central point the need for a decisive improvement in the standards of efficiency, productivity and flexibility of workers in Italy.
The company, despite the competitive challenges it is facing and which have been described above, therefore declares itself sure of ensuring a considerable workload for the years to come. For what concern Offshore segment, the remainder of 2015 will be characterized by a global market context that is still very difficult, particularly in the North Sea, although some opportunities in niche markets and segments still remain. In order to be able to develop these opportunities, Vard will focus on the development of new concept designs for highly innovative vehicles. “The subsidiary will also continue – continues the note - to pursue the efficiency and cost reduction actions necessary to size its production capacity to the different market scenarios, reducing the workforce but preserving the key skills necessary to be able to possible opportunities for the recovery of the sector. In the Systems, Components and Services segment, further growth in volumes is expected in the remaining part of 2015, deriving from the strategic diversification actions implemented by the company, and a confirmation of the positive margins recorded in previous periods”.
"The performance of the group management reflects our expectations in the first half, with an operating performance characterized by reduced margins for the cruise ships currently in production, by the production complexity linked to the strong increase in volumes and finally by the persistence of the crisis in the Oil & Gas sector”: he affirms the CEO of Fincantieri, Giuseppe Bono, who remarks that “in the first half of 2015 we achieved considerable commercial results. In fact, the group's order book and workload recorded all-time highs, settling at 16 and 12 billion euro which, counting on a soft backlog of 7,2 billion, make it possible to reach expected values of over 23 and 19 billion respectively. To support such a workload - adds Bono - we have embarked on a process of reorganization of the Italian sites that does not involve layoffs and we have strengthened the group's skills by introducing over 380 new resources in the last 18 months, at the same time working on the reconstitution of related industries, which has been severely affected by the crisis years. Revenues also increased significantly from last year, largely due to higher volumes of activity recorded in the cruise ship business, with 11 units under construction. Although the offshore segment is still feeling the effects of the contraction in profitability, mainly due to the persistence of the crisis in the Oil & Gas sector and the continuation of the problems relating to the activities in Brazil, the result attributable to the group is positive and the efforts we are making - concludes Bono - will allow a significant increase in production volumes in the coming years”.
