SHARE
Groupe Beneteau announces record earnings
SHARE
The house of nine yacht brands has announced a record financial year, with further growth expected.
Prestige M8
Groupe Beneteau, which includes nine yacht brands and a Housing division, has announced a record €246 million of income from ordinary operations for 2023, marking a 59.2 per cent year-on-year increase. Net income rose 81.4 per cent to €182.2 million, representing 10.2 per cent of revenues (€1,784.6 million).
The French conglomerate employs about 8,000 people, primarily in France, the US, Poland, Italy and Portugal, while its yacht brands comprise Beneteau, Jeanneau, Prestige, Lagoon, Excess, Delphia, Four Winns, Wellcraft and Scarab.
Bruno Thivoyon, Groupe Beneteau’s CEO, said: “The Group’s 8,000 staff achieved an outstanding collective performance including over €240 million of income from ordinary operations, with a double-digit net margin.
“Our value-driven growth strategy is delivering a range of benefits. It’s further strengthening the Group’s resilience and enabling it to position the Group’s operational profitability within a range that’s significantly higher than its pre-Covid levels.”
Thivoyon said the Group’s continued premiumisation and industrial agility will enable the Boat division to maintain an operating margin of 7-10 per cent in 2024, despite the impact of higher interest rates on business.
“This financial solidity confirms the Group’s strategy for product development and sustainable innovation, combined with growth in new services, such as digital and the sharing economy,” he said.
Beneteau First 44
Despite the announcement of the Housing division’s proposed sale, it generated €319.6 million of revenues, up 24 per cent on 2022. As such, Groupe Beneteau’s annual revenues came to €1,465 million after IFRS 5, which presented the Housing division under ‘Operations held for sale’ in its full-year accounts and restated the data reported for FY 2022.
After IFRS 5, the Boat division’s EBITDA was up 32 per cent to €262.4 million, representing 17.9 per cent of revenues, while income from ordinary operations increased by 57 per cent (or €75 million) to €206.8 million, with an operating margin of over 14 per cent of annual revenues.
In the Boating division, the slowdown in demand for the Motor business, which was down €150 million, was more than offset by the value-driven growth strategy across all the segments, up €190 million, and the progress made with deliveries of sailing units, up €40 million.
The Sailing business, with 31 per cent full-year growth, reflected the significant upturn in sales to charter professionals (up 68 per cent), the commercial success of the new models released, and the Excess brand’s strong penetration on the catamaran market.
For the Motor business, sales showed strong growth for the ‘Real Estate on the Water’ segments (up 17 per cent), helped by the commercial success of the Prestige brand’s first M-Line multihull models.
The ‘Dayboating’ segments recorded a 3 per cent increase in revenues alongside a 23 per cent reduction in the number of units delivered. This benefited from the extension of the Merry Fisher and Antares lines, as well as the launch of the DB range of luxury day boats.
