Segafredo Zanetti closes 2024 with 62 million Ebitda

After a year of great transformation, Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group closes 2024 with recovering results, in one of the most complex contexts of the last decade for the coffee industry. The figures for the year, which will be approved by the board of directors later today, refer to a turnover of more than €1 billion (-5% compared to 2023) and an Ebitda of €62 million, up 23%, above forecasts. "There remains an operating loss," emphasises Pierluigi Tosato, the group's CEO, "but it is exclusively related to extraordinary restructuring costs. In addition, the recapitalisation was completed and net debt reduced'. In fact, the net financial position stands at EUR 350 million, in line with forecasts.

In April last year, the QattroR fund entered the capital of the Bologna-based group with a 100 million transaction. 'We entered with equal shares,' Tosato continues, 'and full governance'. Segafredo Zanetti was going through a complex moment, leaving behind Covid and the delisting. The debt was significant 'and so', the manager continues, 'we immediately made a debt rescheduling agreement with the Zanetti family and the banks'.

The moment was certainly not the easiest for the sector, with the raw material skyrocketing to record levels, arabica over the $4 per pound barrier and robusta at $5,500 per tonne. Segafredo Zanetti reacted with revised price lists, simplified supply, disintermediated purchasing, and a completely revised industrial and commercial management. "We consolidated," Tosato continues, "two plants in the United States, in New Jersey and Virginia: only the latter remained operational. In Europe, we restructured a bit of everything'. The reorganisation has led to around 200 exits, globally. 'The supply chain, in our industry, is crucial for the raw material. We are making deals with major partners. We are disintermediating, trading with all the traders in the world. We can say that 2024 was the year of cleanliness, in 2025 we will put the accelerator on."

The signs so far are encouraging: in the first four months, revenues grew by 18% year-on-year, Ebitda exceeded expectations by 20%, and net debt stood at EUR 355 million, in line with the plan. For the full year, the group expects a turnover of 1.2 billion, Ebitda of 77 million, a break-even net profit and stable debt. 'We are a global company in every respect,' Tosato explains. "We sell in a hundred countries, practically on all five continents."

The group has 24 roasting plants worldwide, a workforce of 4,500 employees, 200 of them in Italy. Italy is worth 10 per cent of the turnover, while the US market accounts for 40 per cent. The future might have to do with Asia: 'Already today,' says Tosato, 'we have a very strong presence on the continent. We boast partnerships with coffee machine manufacturers and are present in airports. We have a franchise chain with a thousand signs all over the world. The latest opening is in Jakarta, Indonesia. Asia is the future for our business'. The Segafredo Zanetti brand, according to the CEO, 'is noble and we aim to relaunch it. Our product category is revolutionising, it is increasingly expensive and can count on an increasingly demanding public: we could almost define it affordable luxury, accessible luxury. In this market,' Tosato concludes, 'we want to have our say and, at the same time, bring something modern'.