Cruise Ships Push Fincantieri’s Revenues Up

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri delivered a higher revenue in the first quarter of 2018, mainly driven by the increase in the volumes of the cruise ships business.

The shipbuilder’s revenue for the period ended March 31, 2018 by 11% to EUR 1.22 billion from EUR 1.1 billion reported in the same quarter a year earlier, in line with the Business Plan 2018-2022 targets.

EBITDA as of March 31, 2018 stood at EUR 89 million, up 33% year-on-year, with EBITDA margin of 7.3%, improved from the 6% of the first three months of 2017.

Total backlog was at over EUR 27.7 billion, covering approximately 5.5 years of work if compared to 2017 revenues. Backlog as of March 31, 2018 was EUR 21.8 billion, against EUR 20.8 billion at March 31, 2017, with 104 ships in the order book.

“The first quarter 2018 results are a confirmation of the strategic lines of development set forth in the business plan we presented at the end of March, and are in line with the growth trends registered in the past two years. With production volumes and margins yet again growing, our company continues to prove its ability to create value in an extremely complex sector,” Giuseppe Bono, Fincantieri’s Chief Executive Officer, said.

“Bolstered by this important first step, we will continue along the growth path that will see us taking center stage in the world shipbuilding industry in the coming years,” Bono added.

Shipbuilding margins confirm the positive trend, reporting further improvements due to the construction of more profitable cruise ships and to the positive contribution of the advancement of the activities related to Italian Navy’s fleet renewal program.

Offshore revenues recorded an increase of around 17% compared with the first three months of 2017, despite the negative impact of changes in the Norwegian Krone/Euro exchange rate. This performance is largely due to the continuation of diversification strategy operated by VARD, which has generated an increase of production volumes, especially in Romanian shipyards.

In a context of gradual recovery of revenues growth, the segment’s profitability reflects the continuing process of adjustment of the production structure to the challenges of the portfolio diversification efforts.

Full year 2018 results are expected to be consistent with the 2018-2022 Business Plan targets. For 2018, the group confirms a growth in revenues of 3/6% and an EBITDA margin around 7.5%, mainly related to higher profitability in the shipbuilding segment.