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Benefiting from the significant recovery of the cruise market, Fincantieri Group, the world's largest cruise ship builder, saw its order volume more than double in the first three quarters of this year compared to the same period last year, with orders exceeding 300 billion yuan.

On November 14th, Fincantieri released its financial report for the first three quarters of 2024. In the first three quarters of this year, Fincantieri's revenue increased by 3.7% year-on-year to 5.583 billion euros (approximately 42.583 billion yuan). It is expected that revenue growth will further accelerate in the fourth quarter, allowing the group to raise its 2024 performance expectations, with full year revenue expected to exceed 8 billion euros.

Fincantieri's profitability significantly increased in the first three quarters, with its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) reaching 328 million euros (approximately 2.502 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 19%. The EBITDA profit margin was 5.9%, a significant increase compared to 5.1% as of September 30, 2023 and 5.2% at the end of 2023. The profit margins of all business departments of the group have improved.

According to financial report data, Fincantieri's shipbuilding business revenue for the first three quarters of this year was 4.124 billion euros, a decrease of 5.3% compared to the same period in 2023 when it was 4.354 billion yuan. Among them, the revenue from cruise business decreased from 2.89 billion euros in the same period last year to 27.58 euros, accounting for 45% of the group's total revenue (49% in the same period of 2023); The revenue from the shipbuilding business decreased from 1.421 billion euros to 1.328 billion euros, accounting for 22% of the group's revenue (compared to 24% in the same period of 2023).

In the first three quarters, Fincantieri's shipbuilding business EBITDA was 257 million euros, and the BITDA profit margin increased from 5.9% in the same period last year to 6.2%, thanks to the impact of operational efficiency plans and consistent with the expected year-end trend.

At the same time, Fincantieri's offshore and specialty vessel business revenue for the first three quarters was 917 million euros, a significant increase of 29.2% compared to the same period last year's 710 million euros; EBITDA increased by 47.1% from 31 million euros in the same period last year to 45 million euros; BITDA's profit margin increased from 4.3% in the same period last year to 4.9%.

Fincantieri pointed out that the company's new orders surged in the first three quarters of this year, with a total value of 8.504 billion euros (approximately 64.862 billion yuan) in effective new orders, exceeding the 6.6 billion euros level for the entire year of 2023 and more than double the 4.04 billion euros for the same period in 2023. Especially in the shipbuilding business covering cruise ships and ships, new orders of 6.997 billion euros were received in the first three quarters, which is 2.5 times higher than the same period last year.

The growth in order volume largely comes from the cruise market. In April of this year, Fincantieri signed a total of 8 new generation cruise ship orders with cruise giant Norwegian Cruise Holdings, which is the largest new shipbuilding plan of Norwegian Cruise Holdings since its establishment. This includes 4 200000 ton luxury cruise ships ordered for the Norwegian Cruise brand, 2 86000 ton cruise ships ordered for the Oceania Cruises brand, and 2 77000 ton cruise ships ordered for the Regent Seven Seas Cruises brand.

In July, Fincantieri signed an agreement with Carnival Corporation to build three 230000 ton LNG dual fuel luxury cruise ships for the Carnival Cruise brand. These are the largest cruise ships ever built by Fincantieri and will be delivered gradually before 2033.

In addition, in the first three quarters of 2024, Fincantieri's Norwegian subsidiary VARD also undertook design and construction contracts for 7 wind farm commissioning service operation vessels (CSOVs), 2 ocean energy construction vessels (OECVs), 1 energy construction vessel, and 1 fishing vessel in the offshore and special vessel fields, further consolidating VARD's leading position in this construction market. The total order amount reached 1.139 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 28.5%.

As of September 30, 2024, Fincantieri holds orders totaling 40.1 billion euros (approximately 305.851 billion yuan), which is about 5.2 times its revenue in 2023. Among them, 95 confirmed orders worth 26.4 billion euros are in hand, and there are also 13.7 billion euros of alternative orders scheduled for delivery until 2032.

Fincantieri stated that the cruise industry has continued to maintain strong growth momentum since the beginning of this year. It is predicted that the global number of cruise passengers will exceed 39 million by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.4% before 2030. This trend, along with the application of innovative "green" technologies, has accelerated the upgrading of cruise fleets. Fincantieri has consistently maintained a leading position in the growing cruise shipbuilding market, with a market share exceeding 40%.

In the offshore market, industries related to renewable energy, especially offshore wind power, continue to maintain a steady growth trend. There is strong demand for specialized vessels such as CSOV and SOV (Service Operations Vessel), in which Fincantieri holds approximately one-third of the global market share through its Norwegian subsidiary VARD.

Looking ahead, Fincantieri will continue to advance its business plan for 2023-2027. On the basis of improved performance in the first three quarters, Fincantieri has raised its full year 2024 performance expectations, expecting the group's revenue to increase to over 8 billion euros this year and an EBITDA profit margin of around 6% by the end of the year.