High-potential SMEs

Egm in the X-ray: Porto Aviation sees revenues jump by 26.1%

In 2024, the ultralight aircraft manufacturer saw revenues rise to EUR 3.79 million. Difficult to find skilled labour

by Valeria Novellini

16 May 2025

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4' min read

Key points

Numbers
The buy-back
Consistent backlog and several aircraft in production

4' min read

Porto Aviation Group's revenue soared in the financial year 2024. They jumped by 26.1% to 3.79 million, of which 3.62 million for the sale of products and, in particular, 13 ultralight aircraft, mostly 'Made in Italy', precisely in Cremella in the province of Lecco (the carbon fuselages are made by the Serbian subsidiary Aerotec Composites Doo). The value of production rose by 27.2% to EUR 4.87 million also due to a positive change in inventories of work in progress, which increased from EUR 72,000 to EUR 383,000. At the end of 2024, eight more aircraft were in production. In addition, the company benefited from an operating grant of €324,000 from the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy (relating to support for aeronautical companies) and an IPO bonus of €261,400.

The numbers

But as is often the case, it is not easy to find skilled labour in the industry, especially skilled mechanics and carbon workers. Labour costs thus jumped 50.7% to EUR 1.24 million (at the end of 2024 Porto Aviation Group had 27 employees, of which 16 were industrial workers) and the cost of raw material consumption also exceeded EUR 2 million (+41.7%); less pronounced was the increase in service costs with +21% to EUR 997,000.

This resulted in an ebitda down 14.1% to EUR 504,000 and an ebit down 23.9% to EUR 244,300. Net profit, however, amounted to €238,500 and rose by 20.2%, mainly due to a tax rate that dropped from 37.7% to 13.1%, as a result of deferred taxes falling from €81,900 to €25,800. Porto Aviation Group was thus able to pay shareholders a dividend of €0.048249 per share (from 14 May 2025), for a total dividend payout of approximately €113,300 corresponding to a pay-out of 47.5%. A similar amount was allocated to the extraordinary reserve.

The buy-back

At the end of June 2024, a buy-back programme was initiated for a maximum countervalue of EUR 300,000 (and a percentage of no more than 2.09% of the share capital), which was concluded on 3 February 2025 for a percentage of 1.47% of the share capital and a countervalue of approximately EUR 140,000. This transaction is aimed at stock option programmes and also at constituting a 'securities warehouse' to be used for possible acquisitions or the conclusion of agreements with strategic partners.

The company certainly has no financial problems, as it had net liquidity of €1.06 million as of 31 December 2024, up sharply from €741,300 at the end of 2023. And most of the financial debt is represented by a zero-interest subsidised loan under Law 808 (also referring to support for aeronautical companies) with annual repayment over 7 years starting in 2026.

Consistent backlog and several aircraft in production

2025 will be a 'highlight' year for Porto Aviation Group since the backlog at the end of 2024 amounted to 18 aircraft (in addition to the 8 already in production at 31/12/2024). It is worth mentioning that on 25 July 2024 a contract was signed with a US company supplying aeronautical services to public and private entities regarding 14 aircraft model "Risen 916SV" including all services, accessories and assistance, for a countervalue of €4.4 million. These aircraft will be delivered from early 2025 to mid-2026 in batches of 2 to 6 per shipment.

And so the company's business for 2025 is guaranteed. Although 80 per cent of sales (2024 figure) take place in the United States, which is characterised by vast territories and extensive use of small aircraft for travel, the Porto Aviation Group should have no particular fears from the uncertainties over duties, both because the main supply contract is prefixed and because these are obviously items with a high unit price and can therefore be included in the 'hard luxury' segment, i.e. high quality products at equally high prices. Porto Aviation Group is not Ferrari (which immediately responded to the duties by adjusting upwards its price list for the USA on a large part of its range) and does not even come close to its size, but still benefits from a fairly inelastic demand even if it adopts pricing policies that maintain an adequate level of profitability.

Development of the first four-seater aircraft should be completed in 2025

2025 should therefore still see a good performance for the company in terms of revenues, and the development of the new prototype of the 4-seat Risen aircraft will continue (until now, the models produced have all been two-seaters), the costs of which have not been capitalised and which should soon be ready for engine ignition, while the first technical flight test is planned for the second half of the year. This aircraft will obviously have a higher unit price than the current range and may (not before 2026) attract the interest of even higher-end customers. For the Serbian subsidiary Aerotec Composites Doo, which has only been in existence for three years, the goal is to continue to maintain its economic autonomy (it ended 2024 with a substantially balanced budget) and positive cash flow.

No particular financial tensions are expected given the current favourable situation; however, it can be assumed that the tax burden will increase from the very low percentage in 2023.

Except that, precisely, Porto Aviation Group is not Ferrari: in addition to being traded at Euronext Growth Milan and being small in size, it has a very small free float (15.16% of the share capital), and this naturally greatly limits the potential interest from analysts and investors as well as the trading volume, which is decidedly derisory. So far, moreover, there have been few corporate disclosures and they are limited to legal obligations. More assiduous is the news concerning aircraft performance aimed at flight enthusiasts, but mostly channelled via social media and not through press releases. It is a 'niche' title in every sense of the word. But, if it were better known, this could be a strength.