The top Italian tile producers (2018)

The magazine Tile Italia has published the rankings of the largest Italian ceramic tile manufacturers updated to 31/12/2018.

The growing competition from other ceramic producer countries and the increasingly widespread use of alternative materials such as vinyl are the main causes of the slowdown experienced in 2018 by the Italian ceramic tile industry, which saw its revenues drop to 5.4 billion euros, down 3% on 2017.

This slowdown follows five years of uninterrupted growth and with very few exceptions is reflected throughout the results posted by the top groups and companies in the sector.

These figures were published in the exclusive annual study conducted by the magazine Tile Italia (“Italian ceramic tile companies, revenues 2018”, Tile Italia 3/2019). This league table of excellence is summarised below, although readers should note that the figures for Marazzi Group (one of the top Italian groups) and Emilgroup are not present in the rankings as they are included in the overall financial results of Mohawk Industries.

The rankings of the top Italian groups with revenues above 200 million euros have remained unchanged. Although Concorde Group does not publish its operating data, it remains firmly at the top of the rankings along with its many companies and brands in Italy, France, Russia and the United States.

Iris Ceramica Group remains in second place with consolidated revenues of 485 million euros (down 17.8% on 2017), returning to just above 2015 levels following the record performance of 2016-2017. Next come Finfloor Group with consolidated revenues of 410 million euros (down 3.5% on 2017), Panariagroup with 371 million euros (-3.5%) and Casalgrande Padana, which remains stable at 2017 levels with 263.8 million euros (-0.5%). Rounding off this first group is Coop. Ceramica d’Imola with a 9.1% fall in revenues to 222.5 million euros. Unlike the four largest groups which are all highly internationalised in terms of production, it is worth noting that both Casalgrande Padana and Coop. Ceramica d’Imola have manufacturing operations based exclusively in Italy.

The mid-range segment, consisting of groups of companies with revenues of between 100 and 200 million euros, is led by Italcer group with revenues of 198.9 million euros following the acquisition of Rondine Group (revenue of 110.2 million euros in 2017) in October 2018. Founded less than two years ago, the group led by Graziano Verdi continues to take rapid strides towards its goal of a 300 million euro turnover.

The Faetano-Del Conca group saw a 6.7% fall in revenue to 157.2 million euros, followed by Ricchetti Group with a 6.5% contraction to 151.6 million euros. Next, Gresmalt consolidated its double-digit 2017 growth with revenue of 132.8 million euros (+0.5%). ABK Group also performed well, maintaining its 2017 level of consolidated revenues of 110 million euros. Laminam reached 110 million euros and once again recorded the highest growth percentage of the entire sector: +29.4% following the +25% of 2017 and the +36% of 2016. On 23 April, the fund Alpha signed an agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Laminam, while CEO Alberto Selmi further increased his stake in the company.

Last in the second group of companies is Romani Group with revenues of 105 million euros (+1.2%).

Amongst the companies with revenues below 100 million euros (the rankings only include companies that supplied figures) are Ceramico Piemme Group (98.1 million euros, -5.7%), followed by Fincibec Group (stable at 81.2 million euros) and Italgraniti Group (80.4 million euros, -1.5%). Standout performances include 8.1% growth by Gold Art Ceramica – EnergieKer (76.4 million euros) and the sixth consecutive growth year recorded by Polis (61.5 million euros, +1.5%). Novabell (+2%) and Tuscania - CMC (+5.7%) also performed strongly.