(Alliance News) - SIT Spa reported Friday that it made a net loss of EUR18.2 million in the first half of the year, which compares with a profit of EUR14.2 million in the same period last year.

Revenues amounted to EUR166.9 million, down 14 percent from the first half of 2022 when they were EUR

Ebitda amounted to EUR13.2 million, down 7.9% from EUR23.8 million in the same period 2022. Adjusted Ebitda of EUR14.5 million is down 39% from the same period of the previous year when it was EUR23.8 million, and is affected by the volume effect mainly in the Heating & Ventilation division only partially offset by the Metering division and efficiency and cost containment actions.

Ebit is negative by EUR20.0 million approximately, from EUR10.5 million in H1 2022. Net financial expenses in the first half amounted to EUR3.1 million compared to net financial income of EUR6.3 million in the same period last year. The company recalls that in the first half of 2022 the amount was affected by the change in fair value resulting from the market value of the Warrants, which resulted in financial income of EUR8.1 million.

Adjusted net income, net of nonrecurring effects and asset write-downs, amounted to EUR1.6 million compared to EUR6.2 million in the same period of 2022.

As of June 30, net debt was EUR146.4 million compared to EUR130.5 million as of December 31, 2022 and EUR122.6 million as of June 30, 2022.

Turning to the foreseeable performance of operations, the company reports that "in the Heating & Ventilation division the typical seasonality of sales will not manifest itself in the remaining part of 2023, where a further slowdown is expected."

As for the Metering division, the good growth outlook for Smart Gas Metering is confirmed, which benefits from its strong competitive position in the domestic market, while in Water Metering, the growth recorded in the first half of 2023 lags slightly behind expectations but over the year is expected to be between 10-15% compared to the previous year.

At the consolidated level therefore, "sales forecasts are expected to decline further compared to the first half data."

Regarding margins, actions to streamline and contain operating costs and overhead are also underway with structural operations on the organization that will manifest their impact from the beginning of 2024.

"In the current fiscal year, the Ebitda margin net of nonrecurring operations will be at a level below double digits," the company points out.

NFP as of December 31, 2023 is expected to be broadly in line with the value recorded as of June 30, 2023.

SIT's stock trades in the red by 0.3 percent at EUR3.71 per share.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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