The Sabaf Group recorded sales revenue of 37.1 million euro in the first quarter of 2017, up 20.1% from 30.9 million in the same quarter of 2016. Taking into consideration the same area of consolidation, sales increased by 16.5%. All markets contributed to this growth: the areas characterised by a negative economic context during 2016, such as the Middle East and North Africa, showed a gradual recovery, while the North American and South American markets confirmed the developments already noted in previous quarters. The product family that recorded the biggest improvement was that of special burners, up by 35.9% compared to the first quarter of the previous financial year. The increase in sales volumes, together with the constant improvement in production efficiency, determined a significant increase of profitability: the EBITDA of the period was 7.6 million euro, equal to 20.4% of sales, up by 35.4% compared to the 5.6 million (18.1% of sales) of the first quarter of 2016. EBIT for the quarter was 4.3 million euro, or 11.7% of sales, up by 76.4% compared to 2.5 million in the same period of 2016 (8% of sales). Net profit for the period was 3.1 million, up 97.4% on the figure of 1.6 million for the first quarter of 2016. Net investments for the quarter came to 2.9 million euro (4.2 million in Q1 2016 and 11.8 million for the whole of 2016). Besides, the sales performance has remained very positive also in the second quarter of the year. Even though visibility on the second half-year is currently reduced, the Group presently estimates that it will be able to achieve in the whole of 2017 sales of approximately 145 million euro, compared to 131 million of 2016, and operating margins improved on 2016 (the previous forecast indicated sales for approximately 140 million).
