A record year in 2023
On March 19, 2024, the Bénéteau Group presented its 2023 balance sheet. After announcing its refocusing and the resale of its leisure housing business, which is to be confirmed in the first half of 2024, the boat builder announced 2023 sales of ?1.465 billion, up +17.1%. Profit from recurring operations of ?206.8 million accounts for 14.1% of sales, up +3.6 points, while net income, Group share reaches ?185 million, or 12.6% of sales, 4.4 points higher than in 2023.
Group General Manager Bruno Thivoyon sums up the situation: "The year 2023 was a record year for Groupe Beneteau. The Group's 8,000 employees achieved a remarkable collective performance: over ?240 million in operating income before non-recurring items, and a double-digit net margin. Our value growth strategy is bearing fruit; it strengthens the Group's resilience and enables it to place the Group's operating profitability in a much higher range than it was before Covid."
Sailing and top-of-the-range boats offset decline in small powerboats
The figures for 2023 are the result of different dynamics in different sectors of the marine industry. Demand was down by ?150 million in the motor business, but this was offset by sales of higher-end boats in all sectors, up by ?190 million. The rebuilding of dealer inventories, down sharply since the boom of the Covid period and its production difficulties, also benefited the manufacturer, with sales up ?150 million.
In sailing, with an overall increase of +31%, the return to full power of professional charterers led to a +68% rise in sales. Excess catamarans also continued to gain market share.
On the other hand, sales of small motorboats in the dayboating segment slowed by almost a quarter in terms of units sold (-23%), but this was offset by prices, resulting in sales growth of +3%. Larger units, dubbed Real Estate on the Water, maintained double-digit growth of +17%.
Outlook maintained in a deteriorating market
Like the rest of the industry, the Bénéteau Group expects the yachting market to be in turmoil in 2024, but is counting on its investments and industrial reorganization to maintain above-average performance and an operating margin of between 7% and 10%. Demand remains very strong in premium markets, but rising interest rates are holding back some boaters and dealers from building up inventories. The Group expects inventories to fall by between ?100 and ?150 million, whereas 2023 benefited from the opposite phenomenon to the tune of ?240 million. By 2025, the manufacturer is once again aiming for a 2-digit operating margin.
