High-potential SMEs

EGM under the microscope: Gismondi 1754, revenue up by 20.8%

These are the figures for the first half of 2026 from the Genoa-based fine jewellery group. The company has been very active in the wholesale sector

by Valeria Novellini

3 August 2026

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5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The figures
Greater weighting of the US market and entry into Canada
The group is aiming for greater internationalisation, particularly in the Americas

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

In a famous song, Fred Buscaglione found love in Portofino, and perhaps the same could happen to customers of the VIP Lounge at the local boutique Gismondi 1754, where, throughout the summer of 2026, top-of-the-range sparkling wines from the Piedmontese winery Bosca di Canelli will be on offer. This initiative is part of a ‘return to tradition’ by the Genoa-based fine jewellery group, which has increasingly decided to focus on sales channels with higher profit margins and on product exclusivity.

The figures

In the first half of 2026, the group’s sales rose by 20.8% to 6.3 million, although performance varied considerably depending on the sales channel in question. Indeed, whilst shop turnover fell by 29.5% to around 979,600 euros (though it should, of course, be noted that this is a low season for these outlets), turnover from Special Sales – that is, direct sales to high-end customers – jumped by 54.7% to 1.26 million; European wholesale remained stable at 2.2 million, whilst US wholesale more than doubled from 322,000 euros to 1.15 million.

Consequently, the Retail channel’s share of turnover halved from 32 per cent in the first half of 2025 to 16 per cent as at 30 June 2026. Similarly, the wholesale channel’s share jumped from 23% to 59% of the total, whilst that of special sales fell from 27% to 20%.

Greater weighting of the US market and entry into Canada

At present, although Italia still generates the highest proportion of revenue, its share has fallen from 54% to 39% of the total, and Switzerland has also seen its importance decline (from 23% to 12%), in both cases due to a fall in turnover at the group’s shops. By contrast, the United States has jumped from 8 per cent to 20 per cent thanks to wholesale, and the Czech Republic has also risen from 7% to 11% (this refers to the franchised boutique in Prague, whose sales, however, fell by 19% to 313,600 euros). The rest of the world (which does not include Russia or Australia) increased its share from 8% to 18% of the total, again due to a contribution from the wholesale sector amounting to approximately €324,000 (which was virtually non-existent in the first half of 2025), and relating mainly to the Canadian market.

Gismondi 1754, following a difficult 2024 financial year that ended in a loss, turned the situation around in 2025 and, despite a 11.7 per cent decline in production value to 11.3 million (in particular, sales revenue had fallen by 13.3 per cent to 10.6 million), thanks to an overall reduction in operating costs of 25.9 per cent to just under 10 million, it turned its EBITDA from a loss of 709,000 to a positive figure of 1.28 million, and the company moved from an operating loss of 1 million to an operating profit of 1.03 million, and from a net loss of 1.15 million to a net profit of 253,500 euro. This was despite net financial charges rising from 437,500 to 531,700 euros and tax of just under 246,000 euros (a tax rate of 49.3%, whereas in 2024 there had been a positive tax effect of 290,300 euros).

The cost savings were largely attributable to advertising expenditure, which accounted for 52.7% of the overall fall in service costs (down by 23% to just over 5 million). However, it should also be noted that the number of employees halved from 44 to 22, and consequently, labour costs fell by 42.1% to around 1.2 million.

From a balance sheet perspective, at the end of 2025 net financial debt stood at 4.5 million, down from 5.7 million as at 31 December 2024, thanks to a reduction in working capital and in medium- to long-term loans, resulting in a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45 times, which is therefore entirely normal.

The group is aiming for greater internationalisation, particularly in the Americas

That said, what are the group’s prospects for 2026? Obviously, increasing internationalisation also exposes Gismondi 1754 to geopolitical turbulence, but as at 30 June 2026, there were no sales in ‘sensitive’ regions (Russia and the Middle East), with the exception of the franchise in Qatar, which generated turnover of just €14,300 during the half-year and was not operational during the same period in 2025. Management emphasised that it had focused its development strategies on the wholesale channel (particularly the US) and on Special Sales, which, after all, represent a distinctive sales channel for a small but high-end jewellery group.

According to estimates by the German research group Statista, the global high-end jewellery market is expected to grow by 4.5 per cent to nearly 92 billion euros in 2026, before exceeding 104 billion in 2030. Gismondi 1754 is not an industry giant like Kering, LVMH, Tiffany or Richemont, but all these groups are reporting positive performance in the jewellery sector this year.

True: according to data from the World Gold Council, global demand for gold jewellery fell by 23 per cent to 299.7 tonnes in the first quarter of 2026 (though the value jumped by 31 per cent to $47 billion due to rises in the price of gold), and, as a result, demand has risen for jewellery with carat weights below 18 kt, as well as for synthetic diamonds instead of natural ones. However, Gismondi 1754’s small scale and focus on fine jewellery leave it relatively sheltered from this trend.

The key to continued growth is geographical diversification, a strategy which, as we have seen, has also been adopted by Gismondi 1754; however, given its small size, it has not yet ventured into ‘major’ markets such as China and India (Fope, also listed on Euronext Growth Milan but considerably larger, with a turnover of 56.8 million as at 30 June 2026, has only recently begun to explore the Chinese market). There is greater interest in Latin America, although for the time being the company has begun to develop the Canadian market first, which borders the US – where Gismondi 1754 has long been participating in the most important high-end jewellery trade fairs.

In terms of turnover, and given the results for the first half of the year, the outlook is positive, and seasonal factors will boost boutique sales in the second half of the year (particularly in the fourth quarter). As for the cost structure, it is of course not possible to replicate the kind of radical rationalisation seen in 2025, but Cristian Frigerio (a former financial analyst specialising in listed SMEs) has recently joined the company with the aim of further optimising business processes. On the other hand, given the focus on the Wholesale and Special Sales channels, it is likely that marketing and advertising expenditure will remain at modest levels in the future, as will staff costs.

Anticipation regarding the trend in profit margins in 2026

Gismondi 1754 has a high free float, particularly given that it is listed on Euronext Growth Milan, amounting to approximately 34 per cent of the share capital (Paolo Ambrogio Angelo Guindani recently became a shareholder, holding 5.14 per cent, Paolo Ambrogio Angelo Guindani, who has also held a similar stake in Tenax International since the end of 2025), but trading volumes are very low indeed and, over the past year, the share price has fallen by more than 30 per cent, although a recovery has begun in the last quarter. Unfortunately, the company provides little information, and there are no institutional investors amongst its shareholders, partly due to its very limited market capitalisation. The market’s reaction is now expected on 24 September, when, with the release of the full half-year results, it will become clear whether the group has managed to translate its strong turnover performance into improved profit margins.