2019 was a positive year for Fincantieri, and 2020 shouldn't be too damaged by the coronavirus crisis, even if a "profound review of expenditures" on capital account is expected, except for investments that have already started. While waiting to figure out how to revise the industrial plan to 2024, and after having taken the necessary initiatives to counter the emergency and safeguard people's health and well-being (activity suspended since 16 March), the company led by Giuseppe Bono communicated that last year the historic revenue record was closed: those of the group rose by 8% to 5,8 billion, with Ebitda at 320 million (slight decrease). On the other hand, the adjusted result was negative for 71 million and the result for the year for 148 million. Among the reasons are the very negative result of the subsidiary Vard and the stalling of the operation with Stx France to create the European shipbuilding champion: the investigation by the Antitrust Authorities into the acquisition of Chantiers de l'Atlantique is currently suspended due to Covid-19.
“We have confirmed a long-term strategic vision – commented the CEO Giuseppe Bono – which goes beyond corporate management and allows us to combine the interests of the group and its main stakeholders with those of the country. Concrete proof of this has been our entry into the large infrastructure sector, in which Italy once excelled, but a heritage that was dissolving. This is why we have put the excellence of our know-how at the service of Italy for a highly complex project that we are carrying out successfully and in record time: the construction of the new bridge in Genoa, albeit in a historical situation which is experiencing an emergency Without precedents. For this reason, once again, I want to express my appreciation to our employees and those associated with related industries who are completing such an important project”.
Still commenting on the crisis linked to the coronavirus, Bono guaranteed Fincantieri's commitment also for the aftermath: "At the end of the emergency, once again Fincantieri will make its skills and resources available to contribute, in the shortest possible time, to the creation of the new model of national economic development. In fact, our company, one of the reference points and cornerstones of the Italian industrial fabric, has the moral duty to play a leading role, alongside the Government, in supporting the country's recovery, helping to drive it with the protection of jobs labor and national production capacity. The work we carry out with CDP and ENI also goes in the same direction, that of generating a positive impact on a socio-economic and environmental level throughout the Italian territory.”
Its the Norwegian subsidiary Vard, which weighed negatively on the balance sheet, has just announced that it has signed a new order for the design and construction of a sophisticated unit for the Akraberg company of the Framherji group, one of the most innovative leaders in the field of fish farming active in the Faroe Islands. The contract, worth approximately 50 million euros, is part of the diversification strategy implemented by Vard over the last few years in the face of the crisis in the Oil & Gas sector. The unit for Akraberg will be the first operational in the Faroe Islands whose design was entirely designed by Vard, will be 84 meters long, 16,7 meters wide and will accommodate 25 people on board in single cabins.
