Antonio Picca Piccon
Analyst · Susy Tibaldi from UBS. Please go ahead
Thank you, Benedetto, and good morning or afternoon to everyone joining us today. I start on Page 8 with a quick overview of the highlights of the full year. 2024 has been a very strong year with all metrics exceeding our expectations and reaching remarkable results. I stand with Benedetto in congratulating the team on their outstanding performance and exceptional work. Revenues and profitability grew double-digit, and this with shipments only slightly higher than last year. Product mix and personalization continued to strengthen. This was combined with a favorable country mix and resulted in an EBITDA margin of 38.3% despite continued inflationary pressure, higher rising expenses and brand investments. Further leverage on the D&A in line with the phase out of several models enabled us to expand the EBIT margin to 28.3%. let me also highlight the net profit that reached €1.5 billion and corresponded to a diluted EPS of €8.46, up 22.6% versus the prior year. Such an improvement encompassed nil financial charges and a tax rate of 19.2%, supported by the temporary coexistence of two Patent Box regimes. The industrial free cash flow generation was very strong and above €1 billion for the first time. This achievement is even more remarkable if we consider that in 2024, our capital expenditure peaked at around €990 million. On Page 9, we analyze our shipments for 2024, which increased by 89 units. We had significant changes in our portfolio throughout the year. The shipments of the Purosangue, Roma Spider and 296 GTS grew compared to the prior year, as well as those of the Daytona SP3. We commenced deliveries of the SF90 XX family and the 12Cilindri in line with our plans. On the other side, five models phased out, Portofino M, SF90 Stradale, 812 GTS, 812 Competizione and Roma. The hybrid share reached 51%, in line with product plans and was mainly driven by the 296 GTS. As customary, the geographic breakdown reflects the different product cycles, as well as the company allocation strategy adopted to preserve brand exclusivity. As a result, EMEA and Americas were up versus the prior year, representing close to 75% of our total shipments. Rest of APAC was almost flat at 17% and Mainland China [Technical Difficulty], Hong Kong and Taiwan reduced their share to 9%, in line with our long-term ambition for this region. On Page 10, you can see the net revenues bridge, which shows a 13.4% growth versus the prior year at constant currency. The increase in cars and spare parts was driven by the richer product and country mix, as well as higher personalizations. Personalizations continued to strengthen and exceeded once again our expectations, reaching approximately 20% of total revenues from cars and spare parts, mainly supported by the Purosangue and the Daytona SP3. Sponsorship, commercial and brand increased, thanks to the new sponsorship for our racing activities, among which HP as the new title sponsor of Scuderia Ferrari, as well as higher contribution from lifestyle activities. Currencies, net of hedges in place had a negative net impact in the year. Moving to Page 11. The change in adjusted EBIT is explained by the following variances. Mix and price, strongly positive, thanks to the enriched product mix sustained by the deliveries of the Daytona and the 13 units of the 499P Modificata, the increased contribution from personalizations and a positive country mix supported by the Americas. Higher industrial and R&D expenses, largely driven by racing and innovation activities. And then SG&A increased, reflecting the continuous initiatives in software and digital infrastructure, organizational development, as well as brand investments. Other was strongly positive, thanks to new sponsorship and lifestyle activities, partially offset by higher costs due to the better 2024 Formula 1 season ranking. Lastly, even in this case, we had a negative net impact from currency. The EBITDA margin was 38.3%, while the EBIT margin reached 28.3% and benefited from the already mentioned flattish G&A. Turning to Page 12. Our industrial free cash flow generation for the year was €1.027 billion. The tailwind from the strong increase in profitability was partially offset by a negative contribution from net working capital provisions and others, albeit improved versus 2023, primarily driven by an increase in inventory value, mainly due to a product mix and higher trade receivables. Higher tax payments and capital expenditures of €989 million, a peak within the current business plan, in line with the advancements in product development and the accelerated spending on the new paint shop. I'd like to highlight that an amount of more than €1 billion, very close to the industrial free cash flow generation was also returned to our shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases throughout the year. Finally, the net industrial debt was €180 million at the end of December 2024. Let's move to Page 13, where we present our targets, as well as the drivers for 2025. Please note that this target sets the floor we aim to achieve. On sports cars, product and country mix will continue to be positive, improving from an already reached 2024 baseline. While the contribution of the Daytona is expected to gradually decrease over the year, the mix will be supported by special series and range models, along with few initial deliveries of the F80 towards its end. Personalizations are expected to grow in absolute terms, though stable around 20% of cars and spare parts revenues. Racing revenues from sponsors and the commercial rights holder are expected to grow, thanks to the new sponsorship already signed, the full contribution of title partner HP and the better ranking achieved in Formula 1 in 2024 compared to 2023. Lifestyle activities will continue to increase their support to the top line, accelerating their growth rate while investing a larger share of resources to speed up the pace of development and the expansion of the retained network. Continuous brand investment, higher racing and digital transformation expenses, as well as higher costs implied by the ongoing supply chain challenges allow us to develop our activities, resulting in a gradual progression of our percentage margins. Given above, the first half of 2025 is expected to be stronger than the second half, in line with the development of the product mix. As to the bottom line, we estimate the effective tax rate to be higher at around 22.5% as we keep on benefiting from the new Patent Box regime, while the previous one has come to an end. The industrial free cash flow generation will be sustained by our profitability, partially offset by a still negative change in working capital with new deposits from clients, partly offset by the reversal of previous year's advances, tax payments proportional to the development of our income and CapEx of approximately €900 million, substantially lower than last year. The underlying assumption on the U.S. dollar exchange rate is that it will fluctuate around 105 that would be rather neutral compared to 2024, including hedges. And please note that what I've just mentioned relies on the assumption that applicable custom duties stay unchanged. To sum up, today's very strong set of results marks another significant step in our growth trajectory, which we aim at continuing to 2025. Despite the ongoing uncertainty in global scenario, our unique business model gives us strong visibility, flexibility and confidence in our future. And we look forward to sharing our long-term vision and strategy at our Capital Markets Day on October 9. I thank you for your attention and I now turn the call over to Nicoletta.