THE COMPANY THAT CREATES VALUE
Commenting on the past year has to start with a thought for the dramatic events that have characterised the global scenario, above all the conflicts that are still underway in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. Reflecting on the importance of avoiding any type of conflict, and on the need to make every effort for a just and peaceful resolution of existing conflicts, is a moral and social imperative that requires us to be sensitive to the precious value of life and peace and to build a safer and more prosperous world for future generations.
Within this difficult context, what we are about to comment on was a very positive year for the Italmobiliare Group. A year marked by numerous projects, initiatives and activities, but which we will remember mainly for the exceptional growth and development of some of our main portfolio companies, realising the value of the Florence Group, the inauguration of gres art 671 and the important steps taken on our path of sustainable development. Despite operating in an unstable and challenging macroeconomic context, we have once again confirmed the resilience of our portfolio and demonstrated the Group's capacity for transformation, summed up perfectly in the statement of purpose "Partnership with companies to create values". To crown it all, Italmobiliare's increased cash reserves and the financial solidity of our portfolio companies allow us to propose to the Shareholders' Meeting an important dividend, aimed at demonstrating to the market the validity of our investment and development strategy.
The enhancement of some of our portfolio investments was made possible by achieving the ambitious strategic objectives decided at the time the investment was made. In October, we sold our stake in the Florence Group, a successful project that Italmobiliare made a significant contribution to, both at its birth and during its subsequent development, creating in just a few years an excellence in textile manufacturing with important growth prospects. A few months later, in February 2024, we also sold our stake in AGN Energia, a company which Italmobiliare entered at the beginning of 2019 through an increase in capital that helped to finance the acquisition of Lampogas, laying the foundations for the birth of a leading group in the LPG sector, which in just a few years has become the protagonist of an extraordinary period of expansion. The enhancement of these investments, both acquired after Italmobiliare redesigned itself as a modern investment holding company, testifies on the one hand to the Group's ability to proactively support the transformation and growth of companies, and on the other to Italmobiliare's strategic flexibility in seizing opportunities to rotate the portfolio if the process of accompanying the business has been completed and market conditions suggest that it is the right time to sell.
Looking at the results, during the year Italmobiliare's portfolio gave further confirmation of solidity and quality thanks to proactive risk management, the continuous integration of sustainability into development strategies and management reactivity on the part of the Holding and Portfolio Companies. Even though results differed among the various Portfolio Companies, some of which were heavily penalised by adverse market trends, overall at an aggregate level, they showed slightly better results in terms of both revenue and EBITDA. The growth of the Group companies was reflected in the positive trend in NAV, which at the end of 2023 was up by 172.3 million compared with the previous year, posting an increase of around 10% considering the dividends distributed during the course of the year.
The results of the main subsidiaries were very positive and they are now genuine industrial platforms on whose growth and development the Holding Company is concentrating its resources. Caffè Borbone, which posted more than 300 million euro of revenue for the first time, continues its consolidation among the single-serve coffee leaders in Italy; it is also growing abroad, mainly in Europe and the United States. Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella has seen a significant increase in both revenue (+20%) and EBITDA (+38%), continuing to develop products that are able to meet the demands of an even wider public, always respecting a centuries-old tradition of excellence that is unique in the world. The company is also continuing to grow internationally, especially in areas of high potential like Asia and the USA. Capitelli is growing by double digits, an even more significant result if we consider that in the same period the market saw a decline in sales volumes. It is continuing to promote brand awareness, enhancing the extraordinary quality of its products, recognised and appreciated more and more in the highly competitive large-scale retail channel. CDS-Casa della Salute has almost doubled the number of clinics in just one year, demonstrating the validity of its business model based on efficiency, which aims to help protect the right to health by guaranteeing all citizens a high-quality healthcare service that is accessible and with low waiting times. Italgen has continued its strategic plan to strengthen its position in the renewable energy sector and diversify production sources, in particular through the construction of new photovoltaic systems. In a year conditioned by a hefty global slowdown in the bike sector, Sidi has completed the strengthening of its management team and is progressively optimising its distribution and supplier network. The company now aims to recover volumes and margins in the high-end segment, which has always been its positioning in technical footwear for motorbikes and bicycles, also thanks to the launch of new product categories.
In 2023, the Group also gave a further boost to decarbonisation guided by the methodological approach of the Science Based Targets initiative, which assists companies in implementing scientifically measurable mitigation steps with the aim of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050. After Italmobiliare, all of its subsidiaries have also formalised their adherence to the model so that they too can make a contribution towards achieving the fundamental goal of limiting global warming. We also continued our commitment to the further development of a culture of health, safety and well-being, understood as an ethical and business efficiency model, as well as to the adoption of HR development plans aimed at professional growth, inclusion and gender equality. For this reason, like the Holding Company, the other companies in the Group are also completing their adherence to the Women's Empowerment Principles, a set of principles defined by UN Women and the UN Global Compact, which offer guidance to companies on how to promote gender equality and empowerment of women in the workplace, in the market and in the community.
Among the founding values of Italmobiliare there is also cultural development for the benefit of the community and younger generations. In this context, an important step was the inauguration in November 2023 of gres art 671, a new art and culture centre which "contributes to projecting the city of Bergamo into a great new international dimension", to quote the words of the mayor, Giorgio Gori. gres art 671 is the first element of Gres Hub, a non-speculative intervention with a strong social connotation that will allow the redevelopment of a former industrial district owned by Italmobiliare located in a highly strategic area for the city of Bergamo. The project responds to the Holding Company's ESG strategy as it will allow the enhancement of an area through the simultaneous creation of value for the territory and the people who live there.
In 2024 we will continue along this path, with the aim of confirming the excellent results that we have achieved, consolidating the development of the Portfolio Companies and progressing yet again in our strategy of creating value and sustainable development. On the alternative investment fund front, in addition to the active monitoring of a varied portfolio spread across a wide variety of asset classes, Italmobiliare's leading role will continue in the development of the Clessidra Group's multi-asset platform, with projects for further evolution, growth and diversification in all of its areas of activity that are already consolidated: Private Equity, Credit/Debt and Factoring. As regards the Portfolio Companies, in addition to the continuous search for management efficiency and integration of strategic skills that are consistent with the increasingly high level of the challenges facing Italian SMEs, the focus will continue to be on encouraging the main Group companies to grow through targeted M&A and add-ons, and initiatives involving organic development and international expansion. At the same time, the Holding Company will continue its proactive role as a strategic partner in the growth plans of minority investments such as Tecnica Group, Iseo and Bene Assicurazioni.
So yet again this year, we will be "Partners with companies to create values”.
