The words of the CEO Marco Sargenti
Since the last weeks of 2020 we have seen the demand strengthening, resulting in increased revenue for the first months of 2021. During the first quarter of 2021 our orders have increased by 48% compared to 2020 and 15% more than 2019 and our revenue reached 9.5M€. The positive trend of incoming orders has continued through the month of April and the monthly revenue is also continuing a gradual growth when compared to the beginning months of last year.
The impact of the pandemic has marked 2020 a very difficult year for the world and for our company. However, regardless of the difficult situation we must recognize some positive results that have distinguished the company’s operations management. Despite a significant reduction in revenue, by containing the operational costs and by taking advantage of government decrees, we have managed to maintain a debt level of 19,6 M€ which is equal to what it was at the end of 2019.
Our EBITDA value is an additional result that stands out, at 4 M€ compared to 4.2 in 2019. Thanks to the cost containment activities and the recovery of production efficency the 2020 EBITDA percenatge has grown to 10.0% from the 8.8% of 2019 and the 8.6% of 2018. A well managed COVID-19 crisis by all employees has also contributed to the increased EBITDA. Emergency guidelines, safety protocols and the continuous communication with targeted actions have helped contain the circulation of the virus in the workplace. All as a testimony of the swift actions put in place by management and the great responsibility shown by all employees, and more in general the resiliency of our company that has kept the supply chain going without interruptions to any customers around the globe.
As previously anticipated the consistent influx of orders received during the first quarter makes us optimistic with a prediction of a strong increase in revenue for 2021, returning to 2019 levels. The indipendent company that evaluates Vimi is showing on the analysts coverage report an estimated 45M€ revenue for 2021.
Compared to 2019 we anticipate the consolidation of our production efficency and minor operations cost recovery following the termination of temporary activities going on at a nearby plant between 2018 and 2019 to allow the Novellara building expansion.
Based on our current situation the indipendent company evaluating Vimi is pointing to an increased EBITDA margin of 3 percentage points reaching over 13% on proceeds and a reduced financial position of 3 M€ in comparison to 2020, with a value below 17 M€.
During these last few weeks we have been working on our business plan for 2021-2024 paying particular attention at our market positioning. We are anticipating that Vimi will strenghten and address major resources to the industrial sector including powertrain applications for commercial vehicles, energy production, machinery etc. These sectors show strong growth signals during the current economic situation.
In addition, with the completion of the onboarding activities of our new Sales & Marketing Director Mr. Elia Bianco, we are also intensifying our commercial actions on a global scale with increased efforts to develop new business for the medium and long terms.
The current economic situation shows a strong recovery in most sectors in which Vimi operates; during the next few months the Oil & Gas market is set to improve as well, after experiencing a late economic slowdown. The increase in demand and the consolidation of our business volume will be affected by the success of the ongoing global vaccination campaign specifically in Europe. The raw material procurement and supply chain has experienced difficulties in the recent months affecting multiple industrial sectors, nevertheless we are not seeing any critical issues for the foreseable future.
During one of the most difficult years of the last decade despite the lockdown, the pandemic and the local, national and global uncertainty Vimi Fasteners has increased its margin without taking on more debt. Currently, 2021 is bringing a strong recovery not only in comparison to 2020 but also 2019.
