The Board of Directors of Granarolo SpA, which met on 18 March under the chairmanship of Gianpiero Calzolari , approved the draft financial statements which will be submitted to the shareholders' meeting scheduled for 22 April in single call. The consolidated turnover for 2023 stands at 1,617 million euros, an increase compared to the previous year of 122 million euros (+8.2%). The change in turnover on a like-for-like basis and net of the exchange rate effect, equal to +8.3%, mainly derives from the inflation recorded on raw materials and energy.

The Group's gross operating margin (Ebitda) stood at €94.0 million, equal to 5.8% of revenues. Margins recorded an increase mainly generated by the launch of the new strategic plan, oriented towards increasingly strong product innovation, a renewed focus on industrial processes aimed at reducing costs, developing international sales and coordinating industrial strategies towards upstream supply chain.

The operating result (Ebit) stood at €32.3 million, equal to 2.0% of sales revenues, an increase of €28 million compared to 2022. The Group managed to absorb an impact of inflation of approximately € 188 million in 2022 and approximately €35 in 2023 relating to raw materials, energy, packaging, logistics, cost of money. The net result for the year recorded a profit of €9.2 million, an increase of 7.1 million compared to the previous year.

The net financial position stands at 178.4 million euros, highlighting an improvement of 120 million euros compared to the same figure as at 31 December 2022 with a financial leverage of 1.7x. The improvement mainly reflects the positive impact deriving from the capital increase of 160 million euros finalized in June 2023, net of investment activity of approximately 30 million euros and the increase in financial liabilities of over 14 million euros due to changes in the scope of consolidation.

The Board of Directors has decided to propose to the Shareholders' Meeting the distribution of a dividend of 7 million euros. The Group's sales are traditionally concentrated in Italy for 62% of revenues; sales in Europe increased by 7.7% and those on non-European markets were slightly down due mainly to the drop in volumes of hard cheeses towards Canada, partly offset by the increase in volumes in the MEA area (Middle East and Africa). Overall, on foreign markets the turnover reaches 38% of the total turnover and is confirmed as the Group's main growth opportunity.

The capital strengthening operation which took place during 2023 is functional to the implementation of the 2023-2027 strategic plan of the Granarolo Group, which envisages both important organic growth objectives and extraordinary operations aimed at strengthening the competitive positioning of the group in Italy and abroad .

“We are satisfied with the results achieved during 2023. Supply chain and market are fundamental assets of our nature as a business. We are working on a Stall of the Future and a Factory of the Future in which artificial intelligence will also allow us to cope with new risks", comments Gianpiero Calzolari , president of Granarolo SpA "The protagonists of this epochal change will be the young people who are supporting us , the new generations of breeders, our workers and maintenance workers who are working on their own educational growth, the colleagues from marketing, quality and research and development who are building our new Innovation Center. Transversal to everything will be our commitment to planning a productive tomorrow in the name of sustainability, in the stable and in the factory, whether it be alternative energies (I am thinking of consortium biomethane and photovoltaic, for example), predictive maintenance or artificial intelligence put to the test order management service to reduce returns. We look to the near future with serenity, certain that we will be able to interpret the mandate we have given ourselves and our consumers."