Carraro, turnover grows to 624 million
Turnover at 624 million, up 3% on 2017, but EBITDA down 5.8% (51.9 million compared to 55). This is what emerges from the 2018 financial statements of Carraro spa approved at the beginning of April by the shareholders’ meeting. “The data recorded at the end of the 2018 financial year testifies for the second consecutive year a strong acceleration of the Group compared to what we had forecast in the Strategic Plan launched in September 2017. The turnover - writes Enrico Carraro, Chairman of the Group, in the letter to the shareholders - is still growing, reaching 624 million euros compared to 606 million in 2017, and profitability remain at considerable levels”. In fact, according to what the Paduan company’s statements, net of taxes from non-ordinary operations, both the gross operating margin (EBITDA) and the result before financial charges, even though slightly down compared to 2017, are essentially in line with the previous year both in absolute terms and as a percentage of sales. The net consolidated earnings also fell slightly, to € 12.2 million (€ 13.7 million in 2017). As the Veneto-based company explains, the profitability for the year was influenced by the choice to accelerate R&D costs compared to what was planned. “In light of the results achieved in 2017, we have accelerated R&D investments in 2018. And it is precisely to accompany this acceleration - explains Enrico Carraro - that we have decided to invest significantly in the expansion of the Campodarsego Research Centre. This area will host the new prototyping lines and will allow doubling the testing rooms with the latest generation technologies to validate all our products”. Compared to 2017, investments in machinery, plants and R&D development have grown at a very fast pace; expenditure on research and innovation has also increased, but in this case the increase has been less noticeable. At the same time as the approval of the financial statements, the shareholders’ meeting resolved to distribute a dividend of € 0.13 per share.
