from L’Economia del Corriere della Sera, December 2nd, 2024
by Alessandra Puato
“Many believe Germany will enter a recession or is already in recession,” comments Fabio Nocentini, Executive Vice President of Savino Del Bene, “yet it remains an essential market where there’s ample space for growth. We cannot afford not being there”. Savino Del Bene’s mission is to move goods. The multinational company headquartered in Tuscany moves containers: it purchases service contracts from maritime companies and renegotiates them with customers, as large-scale distributors do. Founded in 1899, it has 340 offices in 60 countries and recorded a turnover of 2.7 billion Euro in 2023. It ships goods via sea, air and land, and operates in the integrated logistics sector. Over the past two years, in the wake of the COVID pandemic, it hired one thousand people, totaling six thousand employees, and finalized 12 acquisitions. Its figures, which two years ago benefited from soaring logistics prices, continue to reflect the enormous volume of trade between Europe and the rest of the world.
The consumption parameter
So it comes as no surprise if the 59-year-old Mr Nocentini, the son of Paolo, President and CEO of the company and Cavaliere del Lavoro (honored with the Order of Merit for Labor), relies on a specific parameter to understand whether or not a country is attractive to invest in: how much that country consumes. For Germany the indicator is positive. That means German companies can be acquired, even though the country’s economy is slowing down. “Germany has always been a cornerstone of European trade, and it continues to manufacture Porsche automobiles and to spend heavily. Goods still move around extensively, generating very high volumes. The US company Kraft buys milk from Germany, while CNH buys components,” recalls the businessman. Of course, there’s always a risk of “not being able to do business”. To thwart this risk, “we need to have good operating structures and an efficient commercial network”. And if any setback occurs, it will be absorbed: “If anything, the payment times will increase slightly, but not to the point of putting us in a difficult situation”.
Volumes and freight charges
In the light of this, Savino Del Bene, the majority of which is owned by the Nocentini family and 23% of which belongs to Remco Holding (Aponte Group of MSC), announced on October 29 the acquisition of Seabridge Transport, a company based in Hamburg. “This is a strategic move to further consolidate the company’s presence in the German market,” commented KPMG, which signaled the case in its Italy-Germany M&A report. “The operation is part of the multinational company’s growth plan”. In Germany, Savino Del Bene focuses on the pharmaceutical market, controlled-temperature products, the automotive sector and machinery. It started expanding in 2002 and has not stopped since. Between 2012 and 2021 it opened four branches: Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart and Bremen. In 2022 it inaugurated the Hamburg office. This year it acquired Seabridge Transport, which, according to a note, will open up for the company “an important market for Asian imports”, while today the highest volumes are generated via sea for exports towards the USA.
A leader in exports
“Our acquisitions are aimed at supporting organic growth,” says Mr Nocentini. “Savino Del Bene is the leader in terms of quantity of goods transported, when we refer to all export goods”. Last year the Scandicci-based group moved 735 thousand TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units—the unit of container capacity) via sea and 87 thousand tons via air. “Our goal is to move one million TEU by 2026,” announced the businessman. This is a significant target after a year, 2023, that evidenced how abnormally logistics revenues had spiked in 2022. Last year’s turnover of 2.7 billion Euro may appear substantial (with a declared gross margin of 178 million and a net profit of 120 million, Italy accounts for 43% of the revenues), but is only half the previous year’s figure which amounted to 4.5 billion (with an EBITDA of 424 million and a net profit of 300 million). This means that the turnover does not accurately reflect the volumes, which remain high: that’s because freight charges have dropped.
Turnover on par
“In 2022 maritime freight charges were exorbitant,” says Mr Nocentini. “A container traveling between La Spezia and Houston, for example, normally charged 2 thousand dollars, rose to 10 thousand. Shipping companies made the budget of the century—the demand was incredibly high. Now the situation is just about normal again”.
The turnover of Savino Del Bene for 2024 is forecast to be “on par with 2023”, despite a more pessimistic start to the year. For example, the Suez Canal crisis is having a positive effect on forwarders: the decline in ship traffic through the canal as a result of Houthi attacks means that customers have to wait longer and are thus willing to pay more to have their goods in their warehouses when they need them.
IT and customs duties
In this difficult 2024, the Group therefore does not expect any surprises, also because, says the businessman, “we have greatly diversified both the products and our customers”. Nowadays, Savino Del Bene also provides customs services, information technology solutions and insurance coverage for freight. And its in-house IT department has doubled its staff over the last five years: “We are more than 100 people; we need highly advanced information technology”. The uncertainty regarding possible US customs duties announced by Donald Trump does not seem to be a worry, since, according to Mr Nocentini, “we’ve already heard that before, but consumer spending in America is high, so the country will always have to import. If there were to be a consumption crisis in the USA, then that would definitely have a negative impact on Europe. If they purchase less everything slows down”.
The stock market is “not in our plans”
Access to the financial markets is not a priority. Although the company was listed in the past, the stock market is currently “not in our plans,” says Mr Nocentini, who leaves the following message to his three children, the 32-year-old Jessica (cook), the 19-year-old Riccardo (student) and Johara (aged 14), who will not necessarily be involved in the generational transition: “Business is going well but the external situation is tense. You have to be at the company every day, you can’t sit around”.
