Finmeccanica closes 2012 in red of 786 million euros, clearly reducing losses from 2,306 billion recorded in 2011. Revenues instead improve to 17,2 billion (+1%). The negative result was influenced by the impairment of goodwill in the defense and security electronics sector relating to Selex Es (155 million) and DRS (993 million), net of which the figure would be positive by 362 million. Net financial debt at the end of 2012 was 3,37 billion, substantially in line with the figure at the end of 2011 (equal to 3,44 billion).
THEAdjusted Ebitda is 1,080 billion, a strong improvement on the -216 million of the previous year. Free operating cash flow also increased, positive for 89 million against (-358 million in 2011). Orders fell instead by 2,2%, to 16,7 billion. The order backlog is 44,9 billion, "equivalent to about two and a half years of production", explain the company.
Just in fourth quarter 2012, the net result was negative by 932 million, an improvement compared to the loss of 1,9 billion in the period October-December 2011. Net of impairment, the figure would be positive by 200 million. Revenues amounted to 5,1 billion, substantially in line with the fourth quarter of 2011, while the adjusted Ebitda was 339 million, an increase compared to -30 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. In general, Finmeccanica underlines that the 2012 results are “in line with guidance”.
As for the 2013, according to the managing director Alessandro Pansa the group will return to profit: "It's like this in our budgets", he said at the press conference after the board meeting on the annual balance sheet, explaining, however, that dividends will once again be lacking. Finmeccanica expects to close this year with revenues between 16,7 and 17 billion euros, slightly down on 2012. Adjusted EBITDA will grow in the aeronautics and helicopters sectors and will decrease in defense and security electronics (especially in Drs, while there will be a slight improvement in Selex Es), while it will still be negative in the vehicle segment. Adjusted EBITDA will amount to approximately €1,1 billion, in line with the 2012 result.
In any case, "2013 will not yet be a turning point – Pansa underlined again -, but we consolidate and increase the results of the industrial restructuring plan. The reorganization process is going ahead with times, methods and results that are not immediate and not exciting, but it is going ahead as a healthy and serious development program should be. Some results are not achieved overnight. The times are the ones that are needed and we believe they are the right ones”.
The railway sector "is still suffering", but "there is a significant improvement in some sectors still in difficulty in 2011, such as aeronautics, which certainly achieved better results in 2012 thanks to the restructuring, and the Selex group, which was a conglomeration of various disconnected companies and which with the merger has been put into a process that will lead it to restructure itself and to have a more stable and sustainable industrial structure”. The CEO expects to launch "new initiatives of a structural nature", above all divestments remained blocked (but DRS will not be sold), which will also lead to a "debt reduction". The meeting has been convened for May 30 for the accounts and for the appointment of two directors, one of whom should be the new president who will work alongside Pansa, in office until 2014.
After yesterday's strong rise, this morning the Finmeccanica share dropped more than three and a half points to Piazza Affari, the worst fall of the Ftse Mib.
