The Carel Group has released their revenues for the first six months of 2020. Consolidated revenues amounted to €161m ($265.3m), marking a decline of 3.6 per cent as compared to the first six months of 2019 (-3.1 per cent at equivalent exchange rates). Consolidated EBITDA of €30.9m ($50.5m) is also down by 8.4 per cent compared to the same period last year.
The company attributes the decline to the effects of the lockdown in China and the shutdown of the Group’s Italian production hub – located in Brugine, Padua – following the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The shutdown led to a significant backlog in March and April that the company says was completely resolved in June and July.
Despite the total and then partial shutdown of the Italian production hub, the Group says that its highest revenue-generating markets in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) – accounting for approximately 70 per cent of revenues – have recorded stable performances compared to the same period last year.
“We are proud to present results that, despite the unprecedented scenario we experienced in the first half of the year, are not far from those reported in 2019,” says Group Chief Executive Officer Francesco Nalini.
“This is in relation to revenues, which came in at the high end of the guidance range previously given by the Group (single-digit percent decline) and in terms of profitability, substantially in line with that recorded at 31 December 2019. This enabled considerable cash flows of approximately €18m ($29.7m) to be generated from operating activities.”
The Group’s performance in the Asia-Pacific region showed a 7.5 per cent decline in revenues on the same period of the previous year. It represents a significant improvement on the first quarter results of 2020 (-17.5 per cent). The company credits the improvement to the recovery of the backlog accumulated during the lockdown and the strong performance in China.
In terms of individual business areas, the company’s refrigeration market gained a positive result of 1.1 per cent (net of the foreign exchange effect). The sound performance in the Retail Food sector (supermarkets, hypermarkets and convenience stores) was partially offset by the negative performance in the Food Service sector (restaurants, hotels).
The company says the result in the HVAC market was due not only to the lockdown of the Italian production hub but also to the sub-par performance of several industrial sectors – such as automotive – which was only partially offset by positive trends in both the high-efficiency heat pumps segment (primarily in Northern Europe) and the data centre segment.
“These results highlight the Group’s ability to react swiftly and highly effectively to exceptional adverse scenarios and the resilience assured by its diversification both at the geographical level and in terms of its business portfolio. Within such a challenging scenario, a fundamental role was played by technological mirroring – the strategic decision to replicate production processes at various facilities, which enabled production of certain product families to be relocated rapidly from plants affected by lockdown measures to their fully operational counterparts – thus reducing the inconvenience for our clients,” says Nalini.
“In any event, the backlog accumulated during the lockdown was largely handled in June, and a residual part in July. Innovation, commitment and a focus on the client will remain the key elements of our strategy in the second half of such a challenging year.”
Carel Industries offer a wide range of products for manufacturers, installers and designers operating in the HVAC&R sector.