Galassi (Ferretti Group): "An exceptional Cannes boat show, exceeding expectations."

Cannes (France) – "Exhausted." This is how Alberto Galassi, CEO and President of Ferretti Group, described himself before sitting down for a few minutes of interview during the Cannes Yachting Festival, amidst meetings with owners, partners, and various stakeholders. The recently concluded show was still particularly lively despite the challenging international economic climate, and during which The group presented growing financial results and new projects (including 20 new models).

With SUPER YACHT 24 Galassi has entered even more deeply into market trends and forecasts for the future of the nautical industry and of the Ferretti Group.

Lawyer, let's start by commenting on the results for the first half of 2023 that you presented: twelve months ago, would you have expected such a positive 2023?

“Yes, I said that. We have a fairly long view, we have a fairly long lead time for the larger models, we have 71 buoys that tell us what the sea conditions are in those markets. We announced it to investors during the road show, we predicted it after 2022, it's a trend that we see becoming increasingly differentiated. The small and unbranded suffer more, the large and branded suffer much less, because it's no longer nautical but becoming luxury, an extreme luxury. I'm really happy.”

Despite the many critical issues that have been and remain numerous—Russia, the conflict in Ukraine, rising interest rates, etc.

"You might think we listed in Hong Kong on March 31, 2022, if I'm not mistaken, during a war that broke out on February 24, with the cost of raw materials skyrocketing and inflation soaring. I'll tell you the truth: overnight, we lost 3% of our revenue because with Russia and Ukraine at war, it disappeared—fortunately, we weren't heavily exposed to those markets—and we recovered and overcame it within two months. Today, this doesn't affect us at all.

Inflation is decreasing, as for the cost of money, for a certain level of clientele there is no financing, they don't need to resort to financing and those who do clearly use it by putting up collateral, collateral money that perhaps has returns that I don't say are similar or even close to the same. It's a different world that suffers from financing, especially in the United States, especially for very small boats, especially for those without brands and this is not our market."

Is there now an increasingly marked polarization in the nautical industry between everything that is small-sized, with the resulting financial difficulties, and everything that is luxury, where the crisis seems non-existent?

"Let's go back to what I was saying before: small size doesn't matter if the brand is Riva or Wally, because a Riva costs 500-1 million, a Wally costs 1-1,5 million. They are 40-50 foot boats, but they have something that others don't. They have the design, the style, the performance, the finish, the materials: the market there isn't affected. Small size, no brand, no name, luckily we don't have it because I would be worried."

Looking ahead, what critical issue worries you most, if there is one?

“I believe there will be a differentiation between what is truly luxury, between what is a brand that makes the difference and what is not.

I'm always concerned about the supply chain because ultimately we need to be increasingly careful about controlling our supply chain. One of our strategies is to acquire suppliers.
Controlling the supply chain first of all keeps value in-house and then makes you a little more in control of your own destiny and this, in my opinion, is an aspect that Ferretti Group, with its size, cannot and should not underestimate and that is what we are doing.”

You also said you'll continue investing in shipyards; is refitting a market you're also targeting?

“Exactly: service and refit yards are essential, they will be our future.”

Is Cannes giving you the satisfaction you expected?

“I'm happier than I thought; we've been incredibly lucky. Every year, our boats join our previews, our previews join our clients' boats in a two-day event at the Monaco Yacht Club. We've been doing it since 2015, and it's now an eight-year tradition, and every year it gets better and more important.

This year, our guests were lucky enough to have Måneskin play for us, and we're already getting a lot of orders there. Many of them come to try out new boats, to switch from one boat to another, or, as I always say, we have a huge advantage in cross-selling—that is, cross-selling across various brands, which for us represents almost 40%—for those who own more than one boat or those who switch from one boat to another. And we've already seen some very positive signals there.

Cannes is reconfirming them: today the Ferretti Infynito arrived, which is the new generation that will revolutionize, in my opinion, the nautical industry, and I think there's a queue outside to get in. So it's an exceptional Cannes boat show, exceeding expectations."

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE SUPER YACHT 24 NEWSLETTER

Ferretti's orderbook has risen to 1,4 billion and more than 20 new models are on the way.