Beneteau boat division reports financial losses for the first half of the year 

Groupe Beneteau boat division has reported a significant downturn in its revenues in the first half of the year. The French boatbuilding firm has announced a 32 per cent decrease compared to the record year of 2023, primarily due to the expected change in dealership inventory levels. 

Despite the overall decline Beneteau has noted a limited decline in sales to end-customers, with its product offering a ‘premiumisation’ strategy helping to offset the market slowdown in terms of volumes. 

The company now expects its boat division revenues to reach around €1bn for the year, reflecting a drop in demand, especially for small units in America.

“The macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty is weighing on the entire boat sector, in both Europe and the United States. The distribution networks started, as expected, to scale back their inventory during the first half of 2024,” says Bruno Thivoyon, Beneteau’s CEO.

He says that the company’s efforts over the past three years had established the Beneteau boat division within a profitability range of six to 12 per cent, which it exceeded in 2023. 

The group has revised its ordinary operating margin expectation for 2024. That’s now 3 to 6 per cent, down from the previously forecasted 7 to 10 per cent. Excluding the impact of American brands, which are expected to record an operating loss of around EUR 15 million for the year, the margin is projected at five to eight per cent. 

The group’s motor business saw a 39 per cent decrease in first-half sales, with unit deliveries decreasing by over 60 per cent. The American brands were particularly affected, with revenues down 72 per cent for the first half of the year. European brands benefited from the ‘premiumisation’ strategy, recording global sell-out sales growth of over 10 per cent for the first half of 2024. 

The sailing business reported a 24 per cent decrease in revenues for the year’s first half, to €268m from €352.9m, mainly due to fewer monohull sales. The catamaran sell-out sales remained solid and consistent with the excellent performance of 2023. 

In response to these challenges, Beneteau has implemented measures to adapt production capacity and reduce cost structures across all sites. This includes consolidating American production at a single industrial site for the second half of the year. 

Looking to the future, Thivoyon notes: “The autumn shows will be an opportunity for us to present the many new models released, which, as during any modification in the boat cycle, will support the continued rollout of our value-driven growth strategy on each segment. The group has always successfully adapted thanks to the strength and complementary features of its brands. Building on a solid cash position, it will continue moving forward with its roadmap for sustainable innovation, helping drive improvements in the quality of its customer experience while continuing to adapt, with agility, its cost structure in line with changes in the dynamics of its markets. We are confident in the robustness of our model.”

The group has also said that the proposed sale of its housing business to Trigano is still awaiting approval from French competition authorities, with a response now expected in the second half of the year. 

Groupe Beneteau will report its half-year earnings after the market closes on 25 September.