Egm x-rayed: Ets engineers report ebitda up 14.6 per cent

At the IPO, Ets precisely defined the percentages of the newly raised funds to be allocated to the implementation of its strategy. Specifically, about 30% (EUR 1.07 million) will be earmarked for the development of the order portfolio, about 20% (EUR 715,000) for strengthening the organisational structure, about 10% (EUR 357,500) for the development of new software and platforms, and about 40% (EUR 1.43 million) for growth through external lines. The acquisition of 51% of an engineering company operating in the field of structure design and seismic adaptation of buildings is currently being considered.

Meanwhile, following the incorporation at the end of October 2025 of Ets Nh Srl (72% Ets, 28% held by two managers of the company with equal shares of 14%), dedicated to engineering in the nuclear energy and hydrogen sectors, the new subsidiary acquired in February 2026 51% of Baq Suisse Sàrl, a Swiss engineering and consulting company operating mainly in the nuclear power and environmental safety sectors, which was established in 2019 as a spin-off from CERN in Geneva and is currently engaged in the development of innovative air purification systems for radioactive contaminants. For this transaction, Ets Nh invested Chf50,000 (around €55,000), in addition to supporting the company's development with financing of up to Chf250,000 (around €275,000) at an interest rate of 2%. In Baq's share capital will remain the two founding partners Stefano Romano and Alessandro Curioni (with about 21% each) as well as the Fondation Genevoise pour l'Innovation Technologique with 5%. Ets was also among the exhibitors at the World Nuclear Exhibition in Paris in early November 2025.

And now? At the end of 2025, Ets Nh was awarded a contract for the Hydrogen Valley project in the industrial area of Jesce, in the province of Matera, for the construction of an electrolysis plant powered by a photovoltaic power plant located in the former Ferrosud factory and intended for the production of green hydrogen that will be used as fuel for regional rail transport. The amount of this contract has not been disclosed, but at the beginning of 2026 Ets, as part of the Temporary Design Grouping led by Systra, was awarded the executive design of Lot 2 of the new Naples metro line (connection between Naples - Vittorio and Afragola), for a countervalue dedicated to the design of 5.77 million euro to be divided among the members of the Grouping (of which there are 5) according to percentages yet to be established. 

At the end of February 2026, Mare Engineering reported that, since the beginning of the year, its La Sia division has acquired new orders totalling EUR 4.25 million, 38% more than in the same period of 2025, with durations between 1 and 3 years, of which at least 25% (approx. EUR 1.06 million) are expected to be invoiced within the year. Ets has so far not provided a disclosure on the order book, although it has announced that it has prepared a detailed business plan with a turnover forecast for the years 2026 - 2028.

The Oice/Informatel Observatory on public tenders for engineering and architecture in April 2026 showed that in the first four months of this year the value of design tenders more than doubled to 320.4 million, and that of tenders for engineering and architecture services (excluding integrated contracts) jumped by 88.9% to 1,039.8 million. This trend is mostly due to the presence of maxi tenders launched by Consip and Aspi, but our country recorded an overall increase in tenders of 34.5% compared to the first four months of 2025, in contrast with the situation in other EU countries.

Ets certainly does not have the size of some of the engineering companies that it indicated as competitors at the IPO (among them the Genoese giant Rina, whose listing has been rumoured for some time, as well as Dba Group, also at Euronext Growth Milan but with a production value of almost 8 times that of Ets based on 2024 figures), but has a rather lean cost structure (in 2025 service costs, the largest item, also fell by 5.5% to EUR 6.77m, while personnel costs rose by 15.4% to EUR 3.76m). In 2026, as indicated by the company, the number of specialised personnel will increase and investments will be made in technological innovation. As for the costs incurred during the IPO (a total of EUR 1 million, as seen against a raise of just under EUR 3.6 million), the company was one of the first to be awarded a subsidy under the 'Quota Lombardia' announcement to support the listing of SMEs on the stock exchange, obtaining a non-repayable contribution of EUR 502,500.

From an ESG point of view, the company has not so far drawn up sustainability reports; however, it has introduced information on direct and indirect emissions and consumption of electricity and fuels in the notes to the financial statements. It has numerous certifications in the area of health, safety and equal pay and has adopted Organisation, Management and Control Model No. 231.

Positive prospects then for Ets? The market believes so (at the moment, the trend topic in the engineering sector seems to be the construction of data centres rather than the nuclear and hydrogen sectors, but even here Ets has signed a partnership with the Dutch Fulvia Beyer Holding, an important operator in the sector), and in fact the share price - although as usual with very low exchanges, and after all the free float is only 12.51% even though an important institutional investor such as Indépendance Am is present in the share capital with 6.1% - is still above EUR 6, decidedly higher than the IPO offer price of EUR 5 per share.