Sirmax: new top management, business plan and 2022 statements

New governance and new board of directors for Sirmax Group, a company based in Cittadella (near Padua) specialising in the production of thermoplastic resins, led by President and CEO Massimo Pavin. In addition to Massimo Pavin himself and his brother Roberto (CFO) the new board, composed of five elements, also includes his brother Vittorio (on the left in the photo - former sales manager of the household appliances division) and two external members: Alessandro Minichilli (in the centre in the photo), full professor at the Management and Technology Department of the Bocconi University in Milan, expert in the generational turnover, transition and managerialisation processes of family enterprises, and Mauro Fenzi (on the right in the photo), current general manager of Sacmi, who relies on a solid technological knowledge gained in the automotive sector and in the development of industrial automation systems. The addition of two external figures to Sirmax’s top management team underscores, on the one hand, the desire to plan and organise the handover from the present management to the second generation of the Pavin family and the managers already operating in the company, and on the other hand, a greater focus on the automotive industry, where Fenzi has operated for a long time, now experiencing steady growth. Before deliberating on the new appointments, Sirmax's board of directors approved the new 2023-2025 business plan and the 2022 financial statements.

Over the next three years Sirmax, a producer of polypropylene compounds, engineering polymers, post-consumer and bio-based compounds, will continue along the development lines established in the previous business plan and make new investments worth about 20 million euros to further the production capacity, digital transition and sustainability of the group. A specific investment will concern India, where an expansion of the Palwal production site is planned. In addition, the 2023-25 business plan will carry on investing in intangible assets. In 2023, Sirmax has already launched the "Aurora project" with an investment in research and development of approximately 10 million euros - including the funds granted under the Italian national programme for complementary investments under the PNRR plan - aimed to the upcycling and processing of post-consumer polypropylene from separate collection into a new generation of high-performance compounds, through the development of an advanced production system. This project will implement the production of new compounds containing at least 30% of polypropylene recycled from flexible films recovered through the separate collection of municipal waste. The performance level of these compounds allows their use in the injection moulding of car interior components. Other plans are being developed: a project for an integrated supply chain is being studied together with Deloitte, involving people, processes and tools, and a new management control method, more reliable and faster, for increasing forecasting capacity and speeding up business decisions so as to keep abreast of today’s volatile market. Another important project concerns human resources and provides for a policy facilitating employee retention and the attraction of new talents.

The board also approved the 2022 financial statements and the results of the first quarter of 2023. The year 2022 closed with a turnover of 501 million euros, an increase exceeding 7% compared to 467 million in the previous year, while Ebitda stood at 30 million euros. The geographical areas recording the best results are Brazil, with a 50% growth, mainly due to new market shares gained in the automotive sector, and India, which recorded a 30% increase, again thanks to new market shares, not only in the automotive industry but also in the household appliances and tools sectors. In both cases, the company is reaping the fruits of the hefty investments in research and development. With regard to the single business units, the share of green products (recycled and bio-based compounds) is growing, accounting for 10% of total turnover in 2022 thanks to a production capacity that is ready to support the expected market growth. As for the first quarter of 2023, the results are in line with the forecasts, reaching a sales volume of approximately 60 thousand tons with a turnover of 115 million euros and an Ebitda of approximately 8 million euros. Deliveries to the automotive industry grew by 12% in the first quarter of 2023, but in the next three years this sector is expected to double sales volumes.