Molteni Group grows and prepares 50 million investment in 5 years

The tone is cautious, of someone who is well aware that, after 28 February, many things have changed and can still change. But some data are objective: "We closed 2025 with very positive numbers, higher than expected, despite the fact that last year the situation was already complex in many geographies," explains Marco Piscitelli, CEO of the Molteni Group, Italy's largest wholly family-owned furniture company. All the companies in the group, which in addition to Molteni&C for furniture and kitchens, also includes the UniFor and Citterio office brands, have grown. The latter sector, in particular, closed a 'record' year, says the CEO.

The group reached an aggregate turnover of 660 million euro in 2025, which translates into a consolidated turnover of 562 million (an increase of around 9% compared to 2024), with Ebitda growing at around 12%. "It has been a truly exceptional year for UniFor and Citterio," adds Piscitelli. "Molteni&C continues with its pace of steady growth both in the retail channel and in projects, even if, in contrast with the market, in 2025 we recorded a strong recovery in retail, up 14%, while contract, although positive, performed slightly below expectations, due to the slowdown in the luxury sector, which has therefore slowed down or postponed the finalisation of projects for shops around the world. On the other hand, large projects for the naval sector, as well as for the hotel industry, performed well. Residential projects were stable.

As in the past, therefore, the good balance of business between the retail and contract segments has enabled the Molteni Group to maintain its growth trend that has been constant for several years now. And it could also prove very useful in the situation of uncertainty created by the start of the war in Iran and the subsequent crisis in the Gulf countries.

"At the moment, the effects of the conflict are being felt mainly on the retail side of that area," the manager explains. The shops in the region closest to the conflict have reopened and are operational, but traffic within them and sales are almost nil, so orders are still slow. In addition, shipping goods has become more complicated and expensive. The pipeline of openings planned for the first quarter (including Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait City) has been revised and some openings will slip by a few weeks. On the other hand, projects are progressing everywhere, including in the Emirates and Qatar: 'Construction sites are continuing and the major real estate groups have confirmed their announced programmes. On the contrary, in recent weeks we have obtained some new, important orders,' says Piscitelli.

The concern is there, of course, but the signs of a slowdown are limited, for now, to the retail channel and only in certain geographies. On the other markets, 2026 is in fact off to a good start and even the United States - where the impact of tariffs has not prevented the group from growing in 2025 - is holding up and remains a strategic market. All group companies continue to invest and new openings of directly operated Molteni&C shops are on the way. Even from China, after years of difficulties, there are encouraging signs. "I do not want to minimise the situation, nor the possible future effects. But the first three months have been positive for all business divisions, although in line with the very ambitious budget forecasts we had set at the beginning of the year,' adds the CEO.