Gefran approves consolidated financial statements at 31 December 2024

The Gefran Board of Directors met on 13 March, chaired by Maria Chiara Franceschetti, in the company’s offices in Provaglio d’Iseo (Brescia, Italy) and unanimously approved the company’s draft annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and sustainability report at 31 December 2024.

“We are satisfied with the results achieved in the last year, which are regarded as very positive, especially considering the challenging context in which they were obtained. These achievements confirm the Group’s strength and our ability to successfully adapt to an ever-changing scenario. In 2024 we performed very well in the Asian markets, particularly China and India. This was an important lever making up for a general contraction in customer demand, also driven by the slowdown in investments in new machinery and plants across all the geographical regions in which we operate. At the same time, we carried out strategic investments designed to strengthen and develop Gefran, tackling an increase in costs linked to both these initiatives and inflation. Looking ahead to this year, our priority remains growth, driven by business development and innovation. We believe that technological trends within industrial automation represent a key driver for our expansion once the current complex macroeconomic phase is over. We have already launched targeted investments, while other investments are planned to enhance products, strengthen production capacity and expand the range of services offered, responding to market needs. A concrete example of this strategy is our recent acquisition of a participation in 40Factory share capital. The early months of 2025 confirm the performance of the last quarter of 2024. While maintaining a cautious approach, we are determined to turn our efforts into concrete growth and expect positive margins also this year”, Marcello Perini, CEO of the Gefran Group, stated.

Revenues in 2024 amounted to 132.6 million Euro, essentially in line with 2023 (132.8 million Euro), down by 0.1% (-4.2% in the first half of the year). Excluding the negative effect caused by the change in exchange rates, progressive revenues for the year appear to be 0.4% higher than the previous year’s figure.

The breakdown of revenues by geographical region shows a widespread decrease across many of the areas served by the group, and in particular Italy (-6.6%) and Europe (overall -7.8%). A geographical region which posted, instead, revenue growth is Asia (+20.9%), which was influenced by the negative effect of foreign currencies developments (in particular the renminbi and the rupee), net of which the recorded increase would be even higher (+22.3%). Sales in America went also up (overall +2.2% which, excluding the negative effect of exchange rate fluctuations determined in particular by the Brazilian Real, would reach +4.5%).

In terms of business areas, compared to 2023, we should underline increasing revenues in the automation components segment, which posted 1.1% growth driven by the increase in sales of the product families of power controllers (+8.9% compared to 2023) and solutions (+11.4% compared to the same previous period), and in particular in the Asia and America markets (+42% and +16%, respectively, compared to 2023). On the other hand, revenues generated by the sensors segment went down compared to the figure at 31 December 2023, specifically by 1.6% (net of the negative effect contributed by currencies, the percentage decrease would be more limited, i.e. 1%) throughout the main geographical regions served, excluding the Asia market where, just like for the automation components segment, revenues increased compared to the same previous period (+18.5% compared to the figure of 2023).

In 2024, order intake was overall higher than in 2023 (+8.5%), as a result of an increase in order intake for the sensors business (+10.8%), while it was lower, albeit largely positive, for the automation components business (+4.5%).

Ebitda was positive by 23.1 million euros (24.1 million euros at 31 December 2023), corresponding to 17.4% of revenues (18.2% of revenues at 31 December 2023), down 1.1 million euros over the previous year. Higher added value and other operating costs, essentially unchanged from 31 December 2023, did not completely make up for higher personnel costs, characterised by the increased workforce and generally higher salaries as a natural effect of inflation. These combined factors resulted overall in a lower Ebitda compared to the previous period.

Ebit was positive and amounted to 15.1 million euros (11,4% of revenues), as compared with an Ebit of 16.6 million euros in 2023 (12.5% of revenues), a decrease of 1.4 million euros. As with Ebitda, the change is mainly due to the higher personnel costs recorded, which were further impaired by the higher depreciation/amortisation charges recorded compared with the previous period.

The net financial position as at 31 December 2024 was positive and amounted to 34.2 million euros, while the figure at the end of 2023 was positive by 22.7 million euros.