The De'Longhi Group has reported a 6.7 per cent increase in global revenues for the 2013 calendar year. The company, which markets De'Longhi, Kenwood and Braun appliances, reached consolidated revenues of 1.63 billion euros, which strong growth reported across the company's core European markets.
The very Asia/Pacific/Americas regions, which includes De'Longhi's Australian operations, registered 395 million euros in revenue, down 9.5 per cent from the previous year.
"Overall we are satisfied with 2013 results, as the year was very critical for the group, due to various factors, among which [were] the Braun integration, a very adverse foreign exchange impact, as well as a few isolated commercial issues in specific markets," said CEO Fabio De'Longhi.
"For 2014, I believe that, despite a further negative foreign exchange impact (although lower than in 2013), the Group has the potential to continue on its growth path, also thanks to the recovery of its competitive positioning in Russia and to the expansion of Braun European distribution."
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The De'Longhi Group, which is publicly traded on Milan's Borsa Italiana, Italy's premier exchange, reported that Kenwood and Braun have experienced very strong growth, as has the DolceGusto coffee machine range, which has compensated for a "slowdown of Nespresso-branded coffee makers". Fully automatic coffee machine sales were steady, the company reported.
"By geography, revenues were growing in West Europe, driven by the group's core markets, such as Germany and Italy, but also thanks to Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg), France and Spain; the MEIA region (Middle East, India, Africa) recorded a particularly strong performance," the company said in a statement.
"Revenues in East Europe increased thanks to the strong performance of markets such as Poland and Ukraine, confirming the existing growth trend, despite sales in Russia significantly below expectations."