International. The Board of Directors of Carel Industries approved the consolidated results as of December 31, 2019: consolidated revenues of €327.4 million, a growth of 16.8% compared to 2018. Excluding the contribution of the companies Hygromatik and Recuperator, growth reached 5.1%.
Financial Highlights
• Consolidated revenue of €327.4 million, a growth of 16.8% compared to 2018;
• Consolidated EBITDA of €63.1 million (19.3% of revenues), +34.4% compared to 2018;
• Consolidated net income of €35 million, +14.2% of net income in 2018;
• Negative consolidated net financial position of €62.1 million, in line with the €59.1 million reported as of December 31, 2018.
Francesco Nalini, CEO of the Carel Group, commented: "In 2019 CAREL recorded solid revenue growth of 16.8% (5.1% on a like-for-like basis) and an EBITDA margin of 19.3%. These results are even more significant in an unfavorable macroeconomic scenario, characterized by a slowdown in the European economy and trade tensions between the United States and China. Thus, even in a non-optimal situation, the returns recorded are particularly positive and reflect the continuous implementation of our strategy lines for several years, and which in 2019 consisted mainly of: completing the Expansion Plan of the Group's production capacity, with an investment of approximately € 20 million in two years; the integration process of the two companies acquired in 2018, Hygromatik and Recuperator, which has enabled to achieve cumulative growth in revenues of around 10% compared to the previous year; and the signing of the first contracts for the supply of digital services to major supermarket chains."
The executive added that "innovation has also been an essential point, with an investment in R & D of approximately € 18 million (+12.6% compared to the previous year) and the constant commitment to seek increasingly sustainable solutions from the environmental point of view. The same enthusiasm that has guided us in 2019 will be instrumental in overcoming the challenges presented to us by 2020, and in particular the recent spread of Coronavirus/COVID-19, which we will face by exploiting our newly expanded production force."
Revenue
The company explained that revenues amounted to €327.4 million, compared to €280.2 million at December 31, 2018, which means an increase of +16.8%. All geographic areas (EMEA, Asia Pacific, North America and South America) and all segments (HVAC and Refrigeration) have contributed to this performance. The strategy of diversifying the target markets, the strong push for cross-selling and the consolidation of the client portfolio together with the continuous updating of the proposed solutions have proven their effectiveness even in a general context of uncertainty in the markets. The contribution of Hygromatik and Recuperator has been approximately €32.7 million, a growth of 10% compared to the results of these companies in 2018.
The geographic area that recorded the largest organic percentage increase was North America, with revenue growth of around 20%. EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) also achieved double-digit growth thanks to the contribution of the newly acquired companies already mentioned and despite the slowdown in the main economies of the euro area.
Performance in the APAC (Asia Pacific) zone was also positive, with growth of 8%, despite persistent volatility in the markets, mainly due to the introduction of tariffs between the US and China.
Finally, South America recorded growth of around 9%, driven mainly by the positive trend in Brazil.
According to markets, the high growth in HVAC once again benefited from the effect of the inclusion of Hygromatik and Recuperator in the consolidation perimeter, while the growth recorded in the Refrigeration sector was mainly due to organic growth. In the second and third quarters of the year, Refrigeration registered a significant decrease in its growth rate in Europe, a trend that reversed in the last quarter of 2019.
