ITALY – In the first six months of 2018 Biesse Group’s sales amounted to EUR 356 million, up 7.5%, compared to the same prior-year period when they reached € 331.2 million.

EBITDA reached € 43.5 million, up 6.6% compared with the same period of 2017, representing an EBITDA margin of 12.2%. Net profit for the first half 2018 reached € 17.2 million slightly down compared to same period of last year (€ 17.5 million).

The predominance of the Wood division in the Group’s revenues was confirmed (71.1%) compared with the glass/stone division(16.5%) and the mechatronics division (14.9%). The “advanced materials” segment, although it cannot yet be defined as an autonomous business unit based on volumes of business generated, at 30 June 2018 represented about 2.7% of the Group’s total order intake.

From the perspective of the geographical breakdown, the proportion of revenues generated by the Italian market was 18.2% (15.7% at March 2018 – 16.6% at December 2017 – 15.2% at June 2017) confirming the central significance of the domestic market and the growth expectations in this area.

The global distribution of sales in the first six months of 2018 was: Western Europe 45.6%, Eastern Europe 15.3%, North America 16.0%, Asia and Australasia 18.8% and Rest of the World 4.3%.