Gefran approved consolidated financial statements at December 31, 2021

The Gefran Board of Directors, which met on March 10 under the chairmanship of Maria Chiara Franceschetti, unanimously approved the draft Financial Statements at December 31, 2021, Consolidated Financial Statements and Consolidated Non-Financial Disclosure.

With reference to the consolidated results, revenues as of December 31, 2021, totalled 160.2 million euros, as compared with revenues of 129.6 million euros in 2020, an increase of 30.6 million euros (23.6%), which would amount to 30.9 million euros (23.9%) net of the negative effect of exchange rate fluctuations. While in 2020 the trend in revenues had been affected by the effects of the pandemic, in 2021, technological leadership and knowledge of industrial processes (guaranteeing a satisfactory level of customer service), as well as investment and new operating methods introduced in 2020, permitted recovery of volumes of sale, which even exceeded pre-pandemic levels (revenues were 14% higher in 2021 than in 2019).

Revenues and added value

The increase in revenues applied to all business sectors: sensors (+34.1%), thanks, in particular, to the strong recovery of Asian markets, followed by recovery in Italy and Europe; automation components (+24.3%), mainly concentrated in Italy; and motion control (+11.5%), driven by sales of industrial and lifting products, as well as customised products. All business sectors made up for the decline due to effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020: sensors performed 27.8% better than in the year 2019, while components and drives performed 11.8% and 2% better compared to the same period, respectively.

The breakdown of revenues by geographical region reveals double-digit growth in all areas served by the Group, particularly Asia (+22.9%) and Italy (30.6%). Revenues were also up in Europe (+21.4% overall) and on the American continent (+13.9%), where performance was in part affected by the depreciation of the dollar and the Brazilian real.

Added value as of December 31, 2021, amounted to 103 million euros (83.8 at December 31, 2020, and 92.9 at December 31, 2019), equal to 64.3% of revenues, a decrease compared to the figure for the previous year (-0.4%), as well as the figure recorded in 2019 (-1.8%). The 19.2 million euros increase in added value over the previous year was attributable to higher revenues, only partially offset by the higher cost of materials procurement (explaining the lower percentage of the profit margin).

Ebitda and Ebit

Gross operating margin (Ebitda) as of December 31, 2021, was positive by 26.2 million euros (equal to 16.3% of revenues), an increase of 8.6 million euros (+49%) compared to December 31, 2020, (when it amounted to 17.5 million euros), and even exceeded the figure for 2019, when it amounted to 19.7 million euros. The improvement in Ebitda is due to increased revenues in the period.

Ebit as of December 31, 2021, was positive and amounted to 18.1 million euros (11.3% of revenues), as compared with an Ebit of 9.4 million euros in 2020 (7.2% of revenues), an increase of 8.7 million euros. As in the case of gross operating margin, Ebit for the year was also higher than the figure at December 31, 2019, (which amounted to 10.4 million euros, representing 7.4% of revenues). In this case, the change was the product of an increase in sales combined with impairment of assets recorded in 2019 (1.5 million euros).

The group's net profit as of December 31, 2021, was 13.7 million euros (8.5% of revenues), up by 9.3 million euros over the positive result of 4.4 million euros in the previous year (3.4% of revenues). The net result for 2021 was up also with respect to the figure for 2019 (7 million euros, or 5% of revenues), both in terms of absolute value (+6.5 million euros) and as a percentage of revenues (+3.5%).

Investment and outlook

Investment in 2021 amounted to 8.9 million euros (6 million euros in the previous year). Despite continued uncertainty, the upturn in demand in the first two months of a year suggests that revenues in the year 2022 may well be higher than those of 2021, with profit margins in line of those of previous years, in the absence of unforeseeable events.

Marcello Perini (pictured above), CEO of the Gefran Group, commented: “The results achieved by the group in the year 2021 are, in an absolute sense, the best ever, and I am extremely satisfied and proud of this. The group has consolidated its role as a landmark for customer companies thanks to its ability to guarantee high levels of service despite a highly complex global scenario. The results are also the fruit of Gefran’s investment over the years in a variety of areas: product innovation, evolution of industrial processes and appreciation of human qualities. The strength we have achieved in all essential areas of the business makes us confident that we will continue to grow by improving on our results so far.

During the first two months of 2022, a number of critical issues which had emerged in the previous year continued to affect results, particularly difficulties obtaining supplies of materials and increased raw materials costs. In addition to these factors, we have seen the precipitation of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and the outbreak of war, which is now a cause for great concern around the world and distress about the suffering of the Ukrainian population. We are closely monitoring the evolution of various critical issues and their possible impact on business trends, and we remain positive about the outlook for revenues and margins in 2022”.