According to the data published by the company, in 2014 the Sabaf Group reported a significant increase in sales to €136.3 million (+4.1% compared with €131 million registered in 2013). This result was accompanied by an improvement in profitability, made possible by further increases in productivity, the lower impact of fixed costs and the growing contribution of activities in Turkey. The sales growth is mainly due to the increase in sales of light alloy valves, the Group’s most innovative product family and in which it has invested heavily in the last decade; in 2014 the Group won some big new orders and increased its share of supply for some of its main customers. Sales of brass valves, however, are assuming less and less importance. As regards burners, good sales growth was shown by special burners, in part thanks to the launch of new models, available in different versions in all markets. However, sales of standard burners suffered a moderate fall. Finally, sales of hinges continued to recover.
As regards to the different geographical areas, the Italian market showed no signs of recovery in 2014 and sales came in at a level comparable to those of 2013. Better results were achieved in Western Europe thanks to the launch of new supply contracts and, in particular, in Eastern Europe due to the key contribution of the Turkish market. “The international markets – explains the company – delivered contrasting performances: strong sales growth was recorded in Africa and in North America, while in South America results were disappointing. As regards Asia, revenue was down overall due to a weak contribution from the Middle East, while sales in China and India showed sound growth”.
In 2014, EBITDA was €26 million and represented 19% of sales (€24.6 million in 2013, equivalent to 18.8% of sales, +5.6%), EBIT totaled €13.2 million, representing 9.7% of sales (€11.1 million in 2013, equivalent to 8.5% of sales, +18.4%) and net profit was €8.3 million, equal to 6.1% of sales (€8.1 million in 2013, 6.2% of sales, +2.9%). Last year, the Sabaf Group made net investments of €11.5 million. The main investments have been related to the industrialization of new models of special burners and light alloy valves. In addition, production capacity was also increased at the plant in Turkey and investments were also made to improve production processes.
“At the beginning of this year – the company said – the performance of sales and orders has shown clear signs of recovery compared with the trend for recent years. This will, however, need to be confirmed over the coming months”. For the full year, based on negotiations concluded with its main customers, the Group believes that it will be able to register moderate growth in sales and profitability compared with 2014. These targets assume a macroeconomic scenario not affected by unpredictable events.
