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Italy’s Ferrari raced to record profits in 2017

Ferrari said on Thursday that 2017 was "another record year" for the Italian luxury car maker, as it is raced into the pole position for increased profitability and output again this year and a further reduction in its debt.

Published: 1 February 2018 15:03 CET
Italy's Ferrari raced to record profits in 2017
Ferrari enjoyed another record year of profit in 2017. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP

Ferrari said in a statement that its net profit jumped by 34 percent to €537 million last year, outpacing analysts' expectations.

Underlying or adjusted operating profit sped ahead by 18 percent to €1.036 billion and revenues grew by 10 percent to €3.417 billion as the number of cars delivered rose by 4.8 percent to 8,398.

Investors feted the numbers, with Ferrari's shares shifting up 4.8 percent to €100.70 on the Milan stock exchange.

Previously part of the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler (FCA) group, Ferrari – which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year – went independent two years ago and has been listed in New York Stock since October 2015 and in Milan since January 2016.

Ferrari's cars usually sell for around €150,000, but the price tag can be higher than €1 million for limited-series models.

The Europe, Middle East and Africa region is the biggest market for Ferrari cars and shipments to this region increased by 4 percent to 3,737 vehicles. Unit sales in the Americas rose by 5 percent to 2,811. Sales to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were stable at 617 cars, and shipments to the rest of the Asia-Pacific region jumped by 12 percent to 1,233.

Looking ahead to the current year, Ferrari is forecasting producing more than 9,000 vehicles and revenues in excess of €3.4 billion.

Adjusted operating profit is projected to come out at €1.1 billion or higher, and the carmaker is planning to bring down its debt to below €400 million from €473 million euros at the end of December and €653 million the year before.

Further ahead, Ferrari is planning to lift adjusted operating profit to €2 billion by 2022 at latest and to cut its debt to zero by 2021.

ENVIRONMENT

Sweden’s SSAB to build €4.5bn green steel plant in Luleå 

The Swedish steel giant SSAB has announced plans to build a new steel plant in Luleå for 52 billion kronor (€4.5 billion), with the new plant expected to produce 2.5 million tons of steel a year from 2028.

Published: 2 April 2024 13:44 CEST
Sweden's SSAB to build €4.5bn green steel plant in Luleå 

“The transformation of Luleå is a major step on our journey to fossil-free steel production,” the company’s chief executive, Martin Lindqvist, said in a press release. “We will remove seven percent of Sweden’s carbon dioxide emissions, strengthen our competitiveness and secure jobs with the most cost-effective and sustainable sheet metal production in Europe.”

The new mini-mill, which is expected to start production at the end of 2028 and to hit full capacity in 2029, will include two electric arc furnaces, advanced secondary metallurgy, a direct strip rolling mill to produce SSABs specialty products, and a cold rolling complex to develop premium products for the transport industry.

It will be fed partly from hydrogen reduced iron ore produced at the HYBRIT joint venture in Gälliväre and partly with scrap steel. The company hopes to receive its environemntal permits by the end of 2024.

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The announcement comes just one week after SSAB revealed that it was seeking $500m in funding from the US government to develop a second HYBRIT manufacturing facility, using green hydrogen instead of fossil fuels to produce direct reduced iron and steel.

The company said it also hoped to expand capacity at SSAB’s steel mill in Montpelier, Iowa. 

The two new investment announcements strengthen the company’s claim to be the global pioneer in fossil-free steel.

It produced the world’s first sponge iron made with hydrogen instead of coke at its Hybrit pilot plant in Luleå in 2021. Gälliväre was chosen that same year as the site for the world’s first industrial scale plant using the technology. 

In 2023, SSAB announced it would transform its steel mill in Oxelösund to fossil-free production.

The company’s Raahe mill in Finland, which currently has new most advanced equipment, will be the last of the company’s big plants to shift away from blast furnaces. 

The steel industry currently produces 7 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, and shifting to hydrogen reduced steel and closing blast furnaces will reduce Sweden’s carbon emissions by 10 per cent and Finland’s by 7 per cent.

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