Fort Lauderdale, Thursday, October 25th, 2007 – With as many as 27 yachts on show, of which 9 new models, Ferretti Group stands out as one of the undisputed world leaders in the engineering and manufacturing of luxury motor yachts and sports boats, ready to present its outstanding results for the nautical year running from September 1st, 2006 to August 31st, 2007 and to outline its future plans for the U.S. market. On August 31st, 2007, the Group’s Revenues reached EUR 933 million (USD $1,325 million), marking a +21% rise compared with the 770 million registered last year.
Bookings in 2006-2007 reached EUR 1 billion (USD $1,420 million), and the Backlog by August 31st, 2007 rose to cover approximately 70% of next year’s annual production. The EBITDA was approximately EUR 158 million (USD $224million), a rise of approximately +34% on last year’s 118 million. This brought the overall profitability of Ferretti Group to over 17% on production value, up almost 1.5 percentage points on last year.The number of employees, on a Group level, rose significantly, from 2,700 in 2005-2006 to over 3,000 in 2006-2007, an increase of +11% year on year.
Ferretti Group also continued its drive for innovation, with over EUR 50 million (USD $71 million) invested last season in technological innovation, new product development and increasing production capacity. Ferretti Group plans to launch over 50 new models over the next 3 years.
The Fort Lauderdale Boat Show is yet another occasion for Ferretti Group to confirm its great commitment to the US market: a record of 9 new models are being presented at the show, of which 6 American previews, Ferretti 780, Pershing 72’, Riva 75’ Venere and Aquariva, Mochi Craft Dolphin 64’, Custom Line Navetta 26, as well as 3 world debuts by the American brand Bertram: the new flagship Bertram 700 Open, the Bertram 410 and the newly restyled Bertram 570 with mezzanine cockpit seating.
“We consider the US market of paramount importance for our Group,” Vincenzo Cannatelli, Ferretti Group CEO, commented. “We are quite satisfied with the performance of the Group in this market, despite the difficult situation in the US boat industry of the last few years and the severe downturn of the US nautical market in the more recent period. Our sales in the US have registered a positive growth in 2006-2007. This is probably due to our strong commitment to the US market, to the significant number of models being tailored to meet the specific preferences of the US customers, and to the strength of our American brand Bertram, which continues to be synonymous with legend and myth everywhere. We will continue with our programme of expansion in the US market, with a special focus on the quality of our products which, together with the further development of a stronger Service network, will play an increasingly important part in our growth”.
“Bertram is a point of reference in the segment of fisherman yachts and, more in general, of the boating industry world wide”, declared Giovanni Vacchi, Bertram CEO. “It gives me great pleasure to present here the new flagship Bertram 700 Open, which will help us further increase the already positive revenues recorded worldwide by the Group’s only American brand.”
