Very sharp decline in boat sales
As we enter the season of stock market earnings releases for the first quarter of 2024 and the first half of 2023-2024, the numbers are piling up. And the trend towards a slowdown in the market, announced since the autumn, is being confirmed. The Catana and Fountaine Pajot groups, whose financial year begins in September 2023, maintained positive growth in the first half to 02/28/2024, with +10% and +33.2% respectively. On the other hand, the Bénéteau Group and the Brunswick Group reported a sharp drop in results for the 1st quarter 2024, which closed later. The boat divisions of the two major European and American generalists decline by -39% for the Bénéteau Group and - 26% for Brunswick Boat Group for which small units, whose sales had exploded during the Covid, have fallen back most sharply.
Adapting the canopy
Faced with this situation, everyone says they have already anticipated the situation and put in place industrial and commercial responses. Despite the scale of the downturn, stock market investors seem to be maintaining their confidence in the business models of these heavyweights in the yachting industry, whose share prices have held up well. In the field, commercial offers are numerous, and some factories are resorting to short-time working.
The reality can be trickier for smaller structures that have sprung up in recent years and benefited from the yachting boom, but lack the financial resources to make it through. Testimonials, like the one collected from Pinball Boats this is a sign that SMEs need to be cautious, at a time when unconditional public support is no longer an option.
Everyone is adapting their sails to a turbulent economic climate. The end of the summer season will give us a clearer picture of the state of the professional yachting fleet.
