Mr. Bolfo, a former civil servant who now has a 45 billion empire with Duferco – Corriere.it

An Italian industrial group (private) last year had a turnover 12 times more than Fininvest, 3 times more than Ferrero and 40% more than Exor. The founder and major shareholder is an entrepreneur originally from Lavagna (Genoa) who has lived in Lugano for many years. His name is Bruno Bolfo, 81 years old, he is a former employee of the state holdings of the 1970s, reserved and little known but considered a legend in the world of steel and in particular of steel trading.

An impressive ride

In 2020, his family’s holding company had achieved consolidated revenues of 11.7 billion dollars (the exchange rate with the euro is now around 0.94), to jump to 26.4 in 2021 and explode to 45.8 billion in consolidated financial statements as at 30 September 2022. An impressive ride, never seen before, two-year-old daughter “drugged” by the prices on the reference markets: energy trading above all and then steel. But underneath an exploded turnover is the true indicator of the industrial trend: the operating margin, the profit which has been growing for six years and last year reached 385 million. Who are we talking about? Of the Duferco group in which Bolfo owns 50.04% and which he governs – as chairman of the group – together with the family of his nephew, the chairman of Federacciai – and of Duferco Italia – Antonio Gozzi, 68 years old, Ligurian from Chiavari, wife a doctor, two children (Augusto and Vittoria): they have 49.96% held directly in the Luxembourg-based Ultima Holding.

The lottery of the immigrant grandfather

It all began half a century ago when Bolfo left the US office of Siderexport (a trading company registered by Iri-Finsider) and moved to Brazil and with 4 Genoese employees created Duferco (combining Dufer and Ferco “free” names at the Chamber of Commerce). But one could also go back to 1898 when the maternal grandfather Bartolomeo Pinasco emigrated from Lavagna to Argentina and made his fortune twice. The first by becoming a billionaire with a winning lottery ticket bought on the ship that took him to Buenos Aires and the second by managing that wealth well, making his daughters study (including Sara, mother of Bolfo), born “Argentines” and sent to Italy where they are married.

Turboenergy and useful solids

Let’s go back to today. Energy, steel and shipping are Duferco’s three key businesses. With energy in the dual version of international trading and industry. And you can already see where the “turbo” is. The pivot of the company is the holding company Duferco Participations Holding, based in Luxembourg. Its consolidated shows the astonishing figure of 45.8 billion, +300% compared to two years ago. Down to earth however, “we are not used to looking at turnover – says Gozzi – on that there was a combination of volume effect and price effect”. The group by the way is the first importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Italy and in the last 4 years has organized over 80 cargo, mainly from Algeria with Sonatrach. «What matters are the operating margins», underlines Gozzi. Profit went from 260 million in 2021 (440 considering an extraordinary item) to 385 ordinary last year, with a balanced contribution from the three businesses: energy, steel and the shipping of Nova Marine, a joint venture with the Romeos, 100 ships in Worldwide. In 2022, the first year with a positive net financial position, 86 million in dividends out of 440 in profit were distributed. it has doubled in recent years from 800 million to 1.5 billion», setting aside the profits.

The restart

More than 75% of the group has activities outside Italy. It was among the world’s leaders in steel trading, then in 2015 it sold the business to the Chinese of Hebei (it remains about 10%) but kept steel production. Here was born the “new” Duferco which today with the company of San Zeno Naviglio (Bs) is the leading manufacturer of beams for buildings in Italy and sells in 60 countries around the world. And next month an innovative rolling mill will go into operation on which 250 million have been invested. Steel, with 1,000 employees (out of a total of 2,600) and one million tons produced annually, contributed one billion to consolidated revenues. In the restart after the operation with the Chinese, the steel soul was joined and gradually strengthened by that of energy: trading, investments in renewables, electric mobility (columns) etc. And here we enter the turnover-boom area: 40 billion in trading alone to which must be added the more “human” and concrete 3.9 billion for production and distribution which in Italy belongs to Duferco Energia (300,000 customers). The trading platform is operated by the Dxt company with branches all over the world. The latest operation, managed by the Genoese Luca Garella, former banker of Royal Bank of Scotland, was the purchase of the relative majority (44%) of the Genoa-based insurance broker Ital Brokers two months ago. A return for everyone to their Ligurian roots.