The Board of Directors approved the Consolidated Interim Report for the six month period 1.1.2015 – 30.6.2015.

"The figures for this semester are quite positive –  commented the Executive Director Mr Stefano Porcellini – and we are, therefore, very satisfied that this year (2015) is emerging as a record year for the Group turnover. The above is happening despite the economic and political instability in various parts of the world, which makes growing the business difficult: Brazil, Russia and North Africa remain weak whilst there are worries from the Chinese financial markets turbulences that could have an impact on the real economy in the whole Asia.
In the second half – Mr Stefano Porcellini continues –  we will perform well due to the excellence of our people, products and services. The considerable investments made in innovation, quality, sales network and marketing over the last two years are giving the expected results”.

Income statement
• consolidated revenues of € 245.5 million (+22.1% compared to the same period of 2014)
• value added of € 101.9 million (+27.7% compared to the same period of 2014) with a margin on revenues of 41.5% (39.7% in the same period 2014)
• ebitda of € 28.9 million (+70.7% compared to the same period of 2014) with a margin on revenues of 11.8% (8.4% in the same period 2014)
• ebit of € 20.2 million (+108.1% compared to the same period of 2014) with a margin on revenues of 8.2% (4.8% in the same period 2014)
• pre-tax profit of € 18.4 million (+116.7% compared to the same period of 2014) with a margin on revenues of 7.5% (4.2% in the same period 2014)
• net profit of € 10.5 million (+166.7% compared to the same period of 2014) with a margin on revenues of 4.3% (2.0% in the same period 2014)


Financial position
At 30 June 2015, the Group net debt was € 19 million, an increase compared to the figure at December 2014 and at March 2015 that mainly reflects the dividend distribution to Biesse shareholders (May 2015 – payment of Euro 9.8 million):
• + Euro 6.3 million compared to 31 March 2015
• + Euro 7.7 million compared to 31 December 2014
• - Euro 9.6 million compared to 30 June 2014
• - Euro 32.3 million compared to 30 June 2013

Gearing ratio fell to 0.14x (0.25x in June 2014) with net debt consisting of some residual committed loans that originally had maturities of over 18 months. The debt/ebitda ratio was 1.14x (1.71x in June 2014) while ROE was 0.08x (0.04x in June 2014).

• Consolidated net equity was Euro 132.0 million (Euro 112.1 million in June 2014)
• Consolidated net invested capital was Euro 151.0 million (Euro 140.7 million in June 2014)
The operative net working capital was Euro 8.4 million higher than at June 2014 but was Euro 1.4 million lower than at March 2015. At 30 June 2015, operative net working capital represented 27.2% (6 months basis) of consolidated revenues (29.1% in June 2014)
The improvement in trade receivables/payables (DSO 59 days – DPO 118 days) was largely due to the focus on financial flows and to the increased reliability of Biesse products. 

Group order intake/portfolio – breakdown by segment and by geographic area
The consolidated orders intake in the first six months of the current financial year remained solid and sustained despite various political and economic uncertainties and the consequent increase in volatility. At 30 June 2015, the orders intake showed a year-on-year increase of almost 13% and even if –although- it’s quite difficult to certify, there is concrete evidence that the overall world market shares of all the Biesse business divisions have grown.
The revenues and the orders intake of Biesse outperformed the average results of the three main reference trade associations (UCIMU machine tools - ACIMALL woodworking machinery - VDMA machines/engineering). The outlook for investments in durable goods remains positive but shows different characteristics with more positive forecasts for the immediate future for UCIMU and ACIMALL (Italy) than for VDMA (Germany).
The Group manufacturing backlog at 30 June 2015 was Euro 139.6 million, an increase of 29.5% over the same period of the preceding financial year.


The order breakdown by business segment indicates that –as usual- the best performance came from the wood division (72.7%) compared to both the Glass/Stone segment (1 4.9%) and the Mechatronics segment (15.8%).
The geographic breakdown of consolidated revenues shows that the share generated by Western Europe grew (+27.2%) compared to the same period of the last financial year (41.7% of the consolidated revenues) and that within this figure, the domestic component was 14% (10.3% at June 2014 and 10.4% at December 2014).
There was a decrease (-2.8%) in the share of revenues from Eastern Europe (16.9% of the consolidated revenues) due to political and economic problems while there was an improvement (+24.8%) from Asia Pacific (19.5% of the consolidated revenues) and, in particular (+35.0%), from North America (14.6% of the consolidated revenues).

The gratifying results and success of the AWFS Fair in Las Vegas (Wood sector 22-25 July) was especially noteworthy in the United States and confirms not only the healthy state of the US economy but also the ability of Biesse to obtain a record orders intake level. This result also reflects the targeted investments made in infrastructures (show-rooms) and personnel that are part of the Industrial Plan strategies.