A higher price-point product mix in the 546,500 vehicles it shipped in 2014 (down from 555,600 in 2013) has helped troubled Italian giant Piaggio show a net profit of €16.1m in 2014, from a net loss of €6.5m in 2013.
Consolidated net sales for its full January to December 2014 financial year were broadly flat (€1,213.3m from €1,212.5m in 2013 with Ebitda up at €159.3M (13.1 percent) from €146.8M in 2013 (12.1 percent).
Gross margin was up to €364.7m from €357.5m in 2013, with net sales margin up to 30.1 percent from 29.5 percent.
The company says that after paying no shareholder dividend at all in 2013 it plans to pay €0.072 this year.
Piaggio say they have maintained their "leadership of the European Two Wheeler market, with an overall share of 16.1 percent and a 24.8 percent share of the scooter segment".
In the United States the company says it took 21 percent of the scooter market in 2013, and that it has had particular success with Vespa models, seeing a 1.3 percent increase in worldwide Vespa brand revenues, with revenue from Piaggio Mp3 three-wheel scooter increasing by 29.3 percent.
Piaggio say that "performance was particularly strong in the fourth quarter of 2014 with significant growth in results (compared with the fourth quarter of 2013) in absolute terms and as a a percentage of revenues".
In the fourth quarter of 2014, the Piaggio Group reported consolidated net sales of €282.5 million (+9.7 percent on the fourth quarter of 2013) with revenue improvements in all regions where it operates.
The company reports EBITDA of €24.0 million (+84 percent on the fourth quarter of 2013) and an industrial gross margin of €77.2 million (+15 percent on the fourth quarter of 2013).
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| Piaggio board of directors Chairman Roberto Colaninno |
Net financial debt at 31 December 2014 was €492.8 million, compared with €475.6 million at 31 December 2013. "The increase of approximately €17.2 million arose largely from the investment programme and the negative effect of working capital, chiefly due to the delayed reimbursement of value-added tax and custom duties in the fourth quarter of 2014".
Shareholders' equity at 31 December 2014 was €413.1 million, an increase of approximately €21.0 million from the figure at 31 December 2013.
Piaggio Group capital expenditure in 2014 amounted to €94.9 million (+8.3 percent on 2013), while R&D expenditure was €46.3 million, substantively in line with 2013. The Piaggio Group continues to employ some 7,500 people.
