Sustainability and innovation guide Florim's growth

For the tenth year running, Florim Group closed 2017 with growth in all its economic indicators. Consolidated turnover totalled 424.8 million euros (up 4.5% on 2016), EBITDA rose by 14.9% to 123.1 million euros (29% of turnover), net profits climbed to 57.8 million euros (+17.1%), and the group’s balance sheet showed net assets of 20 million euros despite its record investments of more than 103 million euros.

Investments focused in particular on large-size panels and slabs, the product segment that more than any other has fuelled the growth in volumes and productivity of the Fiorano Modenese-based ceramic group.

“We are reaping the fruits of the substantial investments we made both in 2017 and in previous years, including major improvements to all factories and an ambitious Industry 4.0 project for the production of large-size slabs in the new facility in Mordano,” commented Chairman Claudio Lucchese in his letter to the stakeholders introducing the tenth edition of the Florim Sustainability Report.

Of the more than 103 million euros invested last year, over 25 million euros was spent on construction of the new factory in Mordano (province of Bologna), where plant and machinery worth more than 40 million euros has been installed since October 2017. Completed within just six months, the project consists of a 56,000 square metre, ultra-sustainable, state-of-the-art facility equipped with latest-generation plants and integrated machines.

Construction work on another Industry 4.0 plant for the production of large-size slabs began at the group’s headquarters in Fiorano at the end of 2017 and is expected to be completed by the end of the current year.

Read the complete article published in CWR 127/2018.