ITALY - The Biesse Group of Italy, manufacturer of machinery and whose activity is divided into three divisions: Wood, Glass - Stone and Mechatronics, reported preliminary results for the 2018 financial year.

Responsible for 71.7 percent of the Group's revenues, the Wood division boosted the company’s growth whose consolidated sales amounted to € 740.2 million, a 7.3 percent increase when compared to the previous year when they reached € 690.1 million.

The other two divisions, Glass - Stone and Mechatronics contributed 17.4 and 13.1 percent respectively to last year’s sales.

The Group's EBITDA reached € 92.7 million in 2018, 3.6 percent more than in 2017 (€ 89.5 million), which represented an EBITDA margin of 12.5 percent. Net profit in 2018 totaled € 43.8 million, slightly above (+ 2.6 percent), compared to the previous year when it totaled € 42.7 million.

In 2018, the distribution of sales of the Biesse Group which is active globally was: Western Europe 47.6 percent (including Italy), Eastern Europe 14.5 percent, North America 15.9 percent, Asia-Pacific 18.2 percent and Rest of the World 3.8 percent.

The proportion of revenues generated by the Italian market was 18.2 percent (2017: 16.6 percent) confirming the central importance of the domestic market and the growth expectations deposited in this market.