Giunti Editore, relaunch between history and innovation and 'profits up 57%'

In Florence, within the historic walls of Villa La Loggia, time seems to have a smell: that of ancient books, of paper that recounts centuries of culture, and of the vision of a family that has linked its name to Italian publishing since the Renaissance. In Florence, within the historic walls of Villa La Loggia, time seems to have a smell: that of ancient books, of paper that recounts centuries of culture, and of the vision of a family that has linked its name to Italian publishing since the Renaissance.

Andrea Giunti

In a display case are books from the 15th century, printed in the first Giunti printing house in Via del Proconsolo. "And to think that there are traces of imitations of Giunti books from that time". The rental contract? 'Ser Piero da Vinci, Leonardo's father, signed it,' recalls Andrea Giunti, 27 years old, now at the helm of Giunti Editore. At which he arrived with a degree in Shanghai interrupted in 2016 after only a year following a call of blood, that of his grandfather Sergio, the current president, who did not want to leave the publishing house in the hands of time without putting a knowledgeable heir at the helm.

Now - this is recent news - he has become ceo, after some time as vice-president and after years in which the management was entrusted to a manager, trusted, but external to the family: Martino Montanarini, who in the meantime has joined Treccani.

Giunti is a publishing company, of course, but it is also a time machine. At the Villa La Loggia, the Congiura de' Pazzi was hatched in its time. And today it happens, for example, that in the 'Sala Giuntina' the complete collection of Leonardo da Vinci's facsimiles, together with the critical transcriptions of the notes 'recovered with many years of work by my grandfather Sergio' (there are 998 copies and the one in Giunti is number 780), cohabit alongside the big names in children's publishing - such as Peppa Pig or Topo Tip, "our subject of which we have complete ownership, which made its debut on Netflix and is now on Raiplay" - or even successful publishing cases such as "Come l'arancio amaro". The debut book by Milena Palminteri, an archivist who became a writer after retirement, is a finalist for the Bancarella Prize 2025 with over 200,000 copies sold. A title supported by a targeted marketing strategy, far from the mechanisms of millionaire advances for established authors. "We strongly believe in this path".

The numbers are rewarding: +6% in revenues in 2024, to 274.9 million; net profit at 13.7 million, +57%; Ebitda at 36 million (+24%). And what was a negative financial position of 29 million in 2022 is now almost zero (-1.6 million). 'It will be positive next year'. Behind this surge in profits, explains the CEO, there is also 'a very careful control of production costs that we have carried out in recent years'. This is due, among other things, to technology and an internally developed platform that collects, analyses and optimises data on print formats, packaging, and raw material management. Which can lead to invisible diseconomies on individual orders, but can drain margins overall. It is there, in those invisible details, that Giunti has found resources to grow.