Ideal Standard International posts 2016 revenues of €739 million

Ideal Standard International, a leading European manufacturer of bathroom products (Ideal Standard, JADO, Porcher, Armitage Shanks, Ceramica Dolomite and Vidima brands) posted strong results in 2016. With 18 manufacturing plants across Europe and in Egypt, the Brussels-based multinational reported total revenues of € 739 million, an increase of € 13 million (+1.8%) with respect to 2015.

The ceramic products segment, which made up 38.9% of total revenues, grew by 5.2% (or +10.4% at constant exchange rates) to € 287.6 million, driven by the strong sales performance in Germany, Italy, France and the MENA region. The fittings segment remained stable at € 260.1 million (35.2% of total revenues), while the Bathing & Wellness segment saw a 5.7% fall in revenues (€ 101.8 million, 13.8% of total revenues). Last but not least, revenues in the Furniture and Accessories segment rose to € 89.5 million, 6% up on 2015 (or +14% at constant exchange rates).

Europe is the group’s largest market, with the UK, Germany, Italy and France alone accounting for 65.7% of total revenues in 2016. Revenues in the United Kingdom fell by 6.6% year-on-year to € 182.6 million (but rose by 5.5% at constant exchange rates), largely affected by unfavourable foreign exchange impact. Revenues saw positive growth in Germany (€ 120.7 million, +5.8%), Italy (€ 98.8 million, +6%) and France (€ 83.7 million, +7.4%). The group also posted good results in the remaining European countries (€ 86.1 million, +16%), although the difficulties in Russia led to a slight fall in revenues in Eastern Europe (€ 47.1 million, -1.5%). Revenues in the MENA region dropped by 2.8% (to € 120 million), but increased by 13.9% at constant exchange rates, mainly driven by Egypt.  

The group led by CEO Torsten Türling also saw its performance in the first quarter of 2017 adversely affected by the unfavourable foreign exchange impact in the UK and Egypt, which limited growth in revenues to € 186.7 million (+0.2% versus prior year, or +9.1% at constant exchange rates). EBITDA saw a strong recovery to reach € 17 million (+23.2%), an improvement in profitability that in the words of Türling,“clearly indicates that our value creation strategy is starting to come through and deliver results”. The strong performance is attributable to the innovative product ranges launched at the exhibition ISH 2017 in Dusseldorf and the consequent increase in sales volumes, the focus on higher margin activities, pricing and cost improvements.