After the first nine months of 2023:
- Total consolidated revenues of 1,626.5 million Euros, an increase compared to 1,495.0 million in the same period of 2022
- improvement in operating profitability confirmed, with EBITDA of 99.7 million Euros compared to 67.5 million in 2022
- Net result of 40.5 million Euros (24.7 million in 2022)
Increase in revenues from sales to Street Market and National Account clients accelerating in October compared to the third quarter
The investment plan aimed at growth and at increasing efficiency continues, with the construction of a new distribution centre in Lombardy, which is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2024
The Board of Directors of MARR S.p.A. (Milan: MARR.MI), the leading company in Italy in the sale and distribution of food and non-food products to the foodservice, today approved the interim management report as at 30 September 2023.
Main consolidated results for the third quarter of 2023
Total consolidated revenues in the third quarter of 2023, in a summer season in which the tourist flows in Italy, especially the domestic component, were below the expectations of the operators in the sector, amounted to 623.2 million Euros, and strengthened the growth in the same period in 2022, in which they amounted to 620.7 million Euros (509.1 million in 2019, pre-pandemic). It must be pointed out that the performance in the third quarter of 2022 was achieved in a market context characterised by marked inflationary trends - which have progressively reduced during the course of 2023 - and by a positive tourist season, in which the presences in receptive structures has substantially returned to the levels recorded in 2019 (ISTAT, December 2022), after a double digit reduction in the preceding two years.
The improvement in the operating profitability also continued in the third quarter of 2023, with consolidated EBITDA amounting to 46.3 million Euros (32.4 million in 2022 and 47.3 million in 2019) and consolidated EBIT of 35.9 million Euros (21.9 million in 2022 and 39.4 million in 2019).
The net consolidated result for the third quarter of 2023 amounted to 21.9 million Euros compared to 14.2 million in 2022 and was affected by the increased financial costs as a result of the increase in the cost of borrowing starting in the second half of 2022.
Main consolidated results for the first nine months of 2023
Total consolidated revenues for the first nine months of 2023 amounted to 1,626.5 million Euros, an increase compared to 1,495.0 million in the same period of 2022 and 1,302.1 million (pre-pandemic) in 2019.
After the first nine months of 2023, the consolidated EBITDA amounted to 99.7 million Euros (67.5 million in 2022 and 103.6 million in 2019), while EBIT amounted to 70.6 million (40.3 million in 2022 and 81.3 million in 2019).
The net consolidated result in the first nine months of 2023 amounted to 40.5 million Euros, an increase compared to 24.7 million Euros in the same period of 2022.
The Net Trade Working Capital as at 30 September 2023 amounted to 155.2 million Euros, compared to 198.6 million as at 30 June 2023 and 150.1 million as at 30 September 2022.
The net financial debt as at 30 September 2023 amounted to 201.9 million Euros, compared to 250.1 million as at 30 June 2023 and 187.7 million as at 30 September 2022. It can be seen that in the first nine months of 2023, investments were made amounting to 20.8 million Euros, of which 13.5 million regarding the construction of the new distribution centre in Lombardy.
Net of the effects of the application of accounting standard IFRS 16, the Net Financial Position (NFP) in the first nine months of 2023 amounted to 125.3 million Euros, compared to 172.4 million as at 30 June 2023 and 106.7 million as at 30 September 2022.
The consolidated Net Equity as at 30 September 2023 amounted to 352.2 million Euros (339.6 million after the first nine months of 2022) and includes a share premium reserve of 9.1 million Euros relating to the purchase since the end of May 2022 of 753,260 treasury shares at an average price of 12.54 Euros and amounting to 1.13% of the Share Capital.
Results by segment of activity as at 30 September 2023
The sales of the MARR Group in the first nine months of 2023 amounted to 1,601.8 million Euros, compared to 1,471.5 million in the same period of 2022, and were also affected by inflation dynamics in the foodservice sector, which was more accentuated as of the second quarter of 2022, and then progressively reduced as of the second quarter of 2023. The increase in sales prices during the course of the first nine months of 2023 was also mitigated by trading down phenomena which, albeit by different modalities, were seen in all client segments.
The third quarter of 2023, albeit with differences by territory and by consumer segments, was characterized by a subdued tourist season, especially in July and August, which were marked by a weak domestic demand, which according to the Federalberghi Observatory and ISTAT (November 2023) showed a decrease in hotel presences in the June-September 2023 period of 3.9% compared to 2019, while there had been an increase of 4.1%, compared to 2019, in the July-September 2022 period (Federalberghi Observatory, November 2022).
In this context, the sales of the MARR Group to clients in the Street Market and National Account segments in the third quarter of 2023 amounted to 572.9 million Euros, and strengthened the growth compared to 559.4 million in 2022 (445.2 million in 2019), which, in addition to benefitting from inflation dynamics, incorporated a volume component similar to pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
The sales to Street Market and National Account clients in the first nine months of 2023 amounted to 1,456.4 million Euros, an increase of 12.6% compared to 1,293.5 million in the same period of 2022.
On the basis of the findings of the Confcommercio Studies Office (Survey no. 9, October 2023), consumption by quantity, and thus excluding the inflationary component, in “Hotels, meals and out-of-home consumption” in Italy increased by 17.4% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, and by 4.8% in the second quarter, while they reduced by 1.3% in the third quarter.
Sales to clients in the Wholesale segment (almost entirely frozen seafood products to wholesalers) after the first nine months of 2023 amounted to 145.5 million Euros and, compared to 177.9 million in the same period of 2022, were affected: in the first half of 2023 by a temporary unavailability of caught seafood products and in the third quarter by a supply policy implemented while awaiting a more clear evolution of the price trends and of a fishing campaign which compared to the same period in 2022 occurred at the end of the quarter, with effects that partially fell in the following month of October.