Industrial gross margin was € 171.7m, a 28.6% return on net sales; operating expenses were € 147m; EBITDA was € 83.1m, EBITDA margin 13.8%, with EBIT of € 24.7m at 4.1% margin.
Profit before tax was € 15.1m with net profit of € 9.1m. The net financial position was 528.5 €/mln, an improvement of 20.1 €/mln. The company shipped 210,300 vehicles worldwide (down from 321,500 for the first six months in 2019). Capital expenditure was € 52.8m; industrial gross margin was € 171.7m, down -31.3%; the return on net sales was 28.6% with Group operating expenses of € 147m.
In two-wheeler terms, the Group sold 163,000 two-wheelers worldwide (-24.5%), generating net sales of € 467.6m. The overall decline arose largely from downturns in the EMEA and the Americas markets (-20.5% sales volumes; -21.5% net sales) and in India (-58.4% sales volumes; -49% net sales). The Asia Pacific region was -9.6% sales volumes, -4.7% net sales.
Piaggio says it "confirmed its leadership in the European scooter segment with a share of 24.1% and maintained a strong position in the North American scooter market, with a share of 23.9%. In North America, the Group is also consolidating its presence in the motorcycle segment with the Aprilia and Moto Guzzi brands.
The scooter segment saw an increase in Vespa sales in a number of Asian countries, most notably China, and a rise in sales of the Piaggio Medley high-wheel scooter.
In the motorcycle segment, sales were steady for the Moto Guzzi V85TT and for the Aprilia RS 125 and Shiver.
In commercial vehicles, the Piaggio Group reported sales volumes of 47,300 vehicles (-55.2%) and net sales of € 132.4m (-43.3%). Group sales dropped by 45% in the EMEA and Americas markets and by 56.3% in India.
The Piaggio Group is working on a project for the development and production of a new range of light commercial four-wheel vehicles, the new Porter. The vehicle will be produced in the Italian factory in Pontedera, and operations are expected to begin by the end of the year.
Piaggio Fast Forward (PFF), the Piaggio Group robotics and future mobility company based in Boston, USA, continued the marketing of its 10 kmh/20 kg payload Gita "follow-me robot carrier". Featuring a 4-hour battery life, Gita is produced in the Piaggio Fast Forward factory in the Charlestown district of Boston.
With the return to production at the Baramati plant in India on 11 May, all Piaggio Group manufacturing facilities had resumed operations. Also in May, the invalidity division of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) declared a design registered by a Chinese party, used to justify the production of scooters similar to the Vespa and exhibited at the EICMA 2019 two-wheeler show in Milan, to be invalid.
In June, the Vespa and Paris fashion house Christian Dior announced a collaboration agreement on the Vespa 946 Christian Dior, designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior’s creative director for women's collections. The iconic scooter will be available from Spring 2021 in Dior boutiques around the world and subsequently in selected Piaggio Motoplex flagship stores.
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| Limited Edition Vespa 946 Christian Dior |
In July Piaggio signed a € 60m credit facility "to enable the parent company to continue consolidating and expanding its leadership position in the mobility sector, and further strengthen the Group's financial structure" and has delayed the decision on the distribution of an interim dividend for 2020 until its Q3 results are seen.
The Zongshen Piaggio Foshan Motorcycle joint venture in China has launched the Aprilia Pagani 150 - a modern style café racer - an ABS equipped 6-speed design variant of the CR150 based on the same 18 hp 150 cc single. Described by Ride Apart as, essentially, a rebadged 1948 Mondial Pagani, Aprilia’s Pagani, however, was borrowed from F.B. Mondial - the storied Italian brand that Piaggio makes in China.
Meanwhile in India, Piaggio has launched new BS6 compliant Aprilia ('Storm') and Vespa (VXL and SXL) 125 cc scooters.
Moto Guzzi has introduced four new V7 III Custom Kits (Stripes, Red & Black, Classic Green and Raw) in addition to the unfinished 'Sketchbike' black side panels, unfinished fairings, tail cowl and bare metal gas tank kit programme.
