The 2019 consolidated financial statements report revenues of 285 million euros. Alfredo Amadei, chairman of Immergas, announces new steps for the development of foreign markets and moves the focus onto R&D and innovation as a way of facing the great changes which the HVAC sector will experience in the coming years. Over 1,000 people employed worldwide in the four plants in Brescello (Italy), Slovakia, China and Iran and in the company’s sales branches. The 2020 forecast confirms profit margins that will support the group’s development plans for the coming years.
Brescello 27 October 2020 – “In Immergas, “Hybrid Change” means directing technological evolution towards more efficient innovative solutions with low environmental impact. We see change as an opportunity”. Alfredo Amadei, chairman of Immergas, one of the worldwide leaders in the HVAC field, has set his sights on the evolution of the most innovative technologies to plan the process that will lead the Immerfin group, founded in Brescello (Italy), to new growth opportunities: “We will close the year 2020“, explains Alfredo Amadei, “with sales and service revenues only slightly below those of the previous year, with international sales accounting for approximately 55%. This is a slight drop from the previous year, thanks to the decision to diversify our production facilities (in Slovakia, China and Iran in addition to Italy). The lockdown and the below par performance of markets that were affected by the health emergency in the first semester, have been compensated by a marked recovery in the second part of the year, particularly in Italy and Eastern Europe; therefore, we predict that by the end of 2020 profitability will be on the same level as 2019, despite the decrease in boilers sold which will be proportional to the decrease in revenues at year end. This performance will allow us to accelerate our investment in research and development to maintain high competitiveness in a rapidly changing market. This will involve positioning Immergas and the other group brands (such as Alpha Heating Innovation in the United Kingdom market for 20 years) in the high-end segment and reinforcing the decision to be suppliers of highly innovative systems for total home comfort, rather than simple boiler manufacturers. The area in which our Company plans to be active is that of new low-impact technologies, promoted by the European Green Deal, and of the new challenges in the field of renewable energies. The group's Innovation and Research departments, which can be counted among the company’s main assets, have been working on sustainability-related projects for several years. On this front, we are not excluding international partnerships, we are ready to join efforts with universities and open to innovative ideas that may arrive from start-ups and talents engaged in environmental sustainability projects”.
The first semester of 2020 closed with positive results for the Immerfin group, in line with pre-COVID 19 projections and in some respects better, while in Italy a decline was inevitable and in 2021 we will be able to ascertain the actual effects of the incentive programmes set up by the Italian government.
“What lies ahead”, says Alfredo Amadei, “is rapid technological change. If the transition from traditional boilers seemed slow (around ten years), the switch to hybrid systems will be much quicker, while the new frontier for our industry consists in systems using “green gas” and hydrogen (similarly to what is happening in the automotive sector). A new competitive and technological scenario is emerging, with new large-sized players entering the HVAC sector with strong investments. The challenge that Immergas wants to take up is always the same: playing a key role in this new market”.
Immerfin Annual report 2019 - In 2019, the Immerfin group that controls Immergas, leading brand for condensing boilers in Italy, reported a significant increase in revenues: 285 million, up from 270 in 2018 and Roe close to 10%. Total sales volumes stood at around 400,000 units worldwide, bringing the total number of boilers installed well over 7,000,000. In 2019, the volumes reported by the group increased by 6% in Italy, 22% in the United Kingdom and Spain, 12% in Czech Republic, 16% in Romania, 23% in Poland, 17% in Hungary, 15% in Bulgaria and 130% in Greece. In Italy, Immergas confirmed its long-standing leadership in the boiler sector, and in 2019, positive performances were also achieved in non-EU markets: Russia (+20%), Ukraine (+4%) and China (+5%). Despite the difficult predicament of the Chinese market, sales by Immergas Beijing were up, partly thanks to the new Changzhou plant opened in autumn: their production of units especially designed for this major market offers new growth perspectives.
The internationalization of Immerfin, under the direction of chairman Romano Amadei, included far-sighted investments in Slovakia, in the Poprad plant (now employing 121 people), which even in the Covid-19 times is proving its high strategic value: “In the first six months of 2020”, comments Alfredo Amadei, “the Slovak production facility has fully met market demands and allowed us to reach a production of 150,000 boilers. In China, the process of starting the new plant was obviously slowed down by the pandemic (the effect of which will also be reflected in this year’s results), but from 2021 we will be ready to take up every opportunity. We have a similar scenario in Quazvin (Iran), where the new phase of our manufacturing start-up is ready to go into full production”.
In Italy, the COVID 19 pandemic has produced effects that are only partly quantifiable and definitely more substantial than in the countries where Immerfin is present.
“Our industrial model”, adds Alfredo Amadei, “is based on the quality of our products and on renewal of our range, but it also relies on direct contact with system designers, installers and dealers. The year 2020 imposed significant changes both during and after the lockdown period. No exhibition (MCE Expocomfort in Milan), no factory visits and no on-site meetings. This changed scenario has forced us to devise alternative solutions to physical interactions.
Immergas will still keep investing not only on the technological front, but also on Caius Club partners (over 20,000 installers and system designers) and services, ensuring maximum support to professionals, in the form of consultancy and advanced training, which has been a characteristic trait of the first 56 years of our company’s history”.
