Board of Gefran S.P.A. approves consolidated results at 30 september 2022

Revenues amounted to 101.5 million Euro in the first nine months of 2022, up by 14.4 million Euro (+16.6%) compared with 87.1 million Euro in the comparative period of 2021.

An analysis of revenues by geographical region reveals double-digit growth in almost all the areas served by the Group, particularly in Italy (+20.2%), Europe (+20.9% overall) and the Americas (+37% overall). This last region benefited from favourable exchange-rate movements against the US dollar and the Brazilian real: excluding this effect, growth of 21% would have been reported.

Asia was the only main region that did not follow this trend, with a contraction in the first nine months of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021 (-2.7%). This outcome would have been worse (-9%) without the positive contribution made by currency dynamics.

Revenues were higher in both business areas served by the Group: sensors (+16.2% compared with the revenues reported at 30 September 2021) and automation components (+16.7%).

Added value amounted to 72.9 million Euro in the period to 30 September 2022, up by 10.2 million Euro on higher revenues compared with the same period in 2021. This benefit was partially offset by the rise in raw material procurement costs, which led to a slight decrease in percentage margins (-0,2%).

Personnel costs also rose, amounting to 34.4 million Euro in the period to 30 September 2022, compared with 30.2 million Euro in the first nine months of 2021. This increase is connected with the rise in employment. Despite the absolute increase in personnel costs, their incidence as a percentage of revenues has decreased to 33.8% (34.7% reported at 30 September 2021).

EBITDA for the period ended 30 September 2022 amounted to 21 million Euro (20.7% of revenues), being 3.3 million Euro more than was reported at 30 September 2021 (17.7 million Euro, representing 20.3% of revenues).

EBIT for the period ended 30 September 2022 amounted to 15.7 million Euro (15.5% of revenues), compared with 12.7 million Euro in the same period of 2021 (14.6% of revenues), up by 3 million Euro. The change is linked to the same dynamics described for EBITDA.

Group net profit for the period ended 30 September 2022 amounted to 8 million Euro, after absorbing the loss of 4 million Euro attributable to the disposal groups classified as held for sale pursuant to IFRS 5. This represents a reduction of 2.6 million Euro from the 10.6 million Euro reported at 30 September 2021.

Working capital amounts to 12 million Euro at 30 September 2022, compared with 8.7 million Euro at 31 December 2021, up overall by 3.3 million Euro.

Shareholders’ equity amounts to 90.5 million Euro at 30 September 2022, compared with 85.5 million Euro at 31 December 2021, up by 4.9 million Euro.

Investments amounted to 3.7 million Euro in the first nine months of 2022, down by 0.6 million Euro compared with the same period in 2021. They mainly focused on production departments, research and development activities and the factory buildings used by the Group.

The net financial position at 30 September 2022 is positive by 8.6 million Euro, up from 3.4 million Euro at the end of 2021.

On 3 October 2022, Gefran S.p.A. commenced the first phase of the sale of the Motion Control business to the Brazilian WEG group for 17.9 million Euro, out of an agreed total of 23 million Euro. In particular, the equity interest in the Italian Gefran Drives and Motion S.r.l. was sold to WEG S.A. on that date. At the same time, Gefran S.p.A. signed a three-month licence agreement for use of the Gefran trademark, limited to the products included in the sale, so that the purchaser could continue their production without interruption.

On 4 October 2022, Gefran S.p.A. sold the equity interest in the German Siei Areg GmbH to WEG S.A. for 1.4 million Euro, out of an agreed total for the disposal of the Motion Control business of 23 million Euro.

Under the agreement, the Motion Control business units carved out from Gefran Siei Drives Technology Co Ltd and from Gefran India Private Ltd will be sold subsequently.

Marcello Perini, Chief Executive Officer of the Gefran Group, stated: “The results to the end of September are very positive, confirming the absolute levels of operational excellence achieved in the previous quarters.

Investment levels have also remained high throughout the year. The resources were principally dedicated to the development of new products and the automation of industrial processes, consistent with a strategy that identifies both the quality of customer service and technological innovation as pillars ensuring the generation of value and the competitiveness of the Group.

The macroeconomic situation is flagging ever clearer signals of a slowdown in demand. Given the order book, we nevertheless believe that the current year will close with growth in absolute terms, compared with the prior year, of both revenues (about 10% ahead) and EBITDA (up about 5%)”.