«The boost will come from green and digital»- Corriere.it

Consolidate Fincantieri's leadership and lay the foundations for projecting the group towards the next industrial cycle, driven by digital and green ships. Leveraging on the three businesses: cruise ships, military and work ships. With the focus, however, on the return to profitability. «The Fincantieri I have in mind is a company that has at least a 3% profit margin at the end of the job. Net income will arrive in 2025. Profitability is not an end but a means because a company that earns is future-proof: it innovates, invests and hires. Let's not forget that we also have a social role as leader». This was explained by the CEO Pierroberto Folgiero in his first discussion with the market during the Capital market day, one year after his inauguration at the top of the Italian shipbuilding group: an audience of about seventy analysts and institutional gathered in Milan that the manager wants invite them to invest and to whom he explained the projects contained in the numbers of the business plan presented in December. «I won't explain that we are a big player but that what we are doing increases the significance of our industry».

Share 10 billion in 2027

The starting point is the confirmation of all the objectives of the plan which envisages, among other things, an ebitda margin of approximately 7% in 2025 and 9.8% in 2027. Revenues are expected to be 8.8 billion in 2025 and 9.8 in 2027. The five strategic pillars of the group have also been confirmed: concentration on the core business of cruise, defense and offshore shipbuilding, risk mitigation, attention to cost management and optimization of cash flows, industrial commitment to sustainability, development of an offer of life cycle management services and evolution of platform integrator skills.

Route to wind power

One of the cornerstones of the turning point is the subsidiary Vard, and the potential of its work vessels, the company that is a bit the synthesis of the technological and digital breakthrough and the energy transition that Folgiero is thinking about. The group expects volumes to increase and become similar to those of the times of maximum expansion of offshore oil and gas, with revenues of up to 1.5-1.6 billion. Vard already has nearly doubled orders in the first quarter. "This data confirms the company's recovery and the enormous potential of the offshore sector, especially as regards wind energy, whose offshore production is expected to increase fourfold by 2030", explained the group. A higher number of orders will also lead to an increase in the margins of the offshore sector for the group, also by virtue of the fact that the company holds 30% of the market. The Ocean Infinity project alone involves the construction of 14 ships: three will be delivered this year.
The group is studying various solutions to implement the technology that welcomes alternative fuels, including lng (liquefied gas), methanol and of course hydrogen. And Vard's special work vessels could lead the way.

The work portfolio

Fincantieri is coming out of a period of change, after a strategic review period and three years made difficult by the slowdown in the cruise sector caused by the pandemic, then complicated last year by the rise in raw material prices and by the rapid rise in inflation, not expected. But now we're starting again, explains the group, which is looking at the order book acquired for 22.7 billion which will turn into turnover between '28 and '29 when they are delivered. Another 11 billion options that will turn into contracts and which bring the figure to 34 billion. The cruise market, the company explained, is expected to grow by 6% a year until 2030.

The alliance with Leonardo

Then there are new fronts that start from an already developed business front and from alliances with important and strategic players. «We have the Orizzonte Sistemi Navali joint venture with Leonardo and a lot of work has already been done to understand how to strengthen it and increase its value», said Folgiero, after the presentation of the 2023-2027 Business Plan. «My vision is that the jv has potential that has not yet been disclosed and we will take care of continuing to carry on this project. It's a strategic priority for me."