(Alliance News) - The board of directors of Officina Stellare Spa on Friday approved the consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2022 reporting a net profit of EUR610,000 down 55 percent from EUR1.3 million recorded in the full year 2021.

Value of production is EUR13.0 million up 37 percent from EUR9.5 million in 2021. "The positive growth trend stems both from the increase in production capacity benefiting from investments in production assets, supported by an increase in the order book, and from the contribution of subsidiaries that operate synergistically with the company and expand business lines such as, for example that of laser communication and cybersecurity," reads a company note.

Ebitda is about EUR3.2 million from EUR3.5 million in 2021. An 8.2 percent decrease attributable to an increase in production costs, the company points out in a note. "Increased costs of raw materials-alloys, compounds, and optical glasses-, energy, and external consulting services, the latter of which were necessary given the enormous difficulty in recruiting specialized personnel, which required the support of the more expensive external engineering," were significantly affected.

In addition, the company points out, "during 2022 the space-factory did not develop productivity to its full potential because the more complex machinery required indispensable start-up times that inevitably reduced production efficiency."

In contrast, Ebit amounted to EUR780,000 down about 48 percent from EUR1.5 million in 2021. The reduction is due to the lower operating margin and increased depreciation and amortization caused by investments. The company reports that depreciation and provisions of EUR2.4 million were incurred in the period from nearly EUR2.0 million in FY2021.

Net financial debt amounted to EUR4.4 million improving from EUR7.5 million in FY 2021.

As for the future, the current portfolio of orders already acquired, as well as short-term projections for orders being contracted related to projects and missions with a multi-year scope in space and defense in which the company is already involved as a key supplier, "outline a multi-year plan of steady growth."

Giovanni Dal Lago, CEO, said, "We are continuing with a very important investment program because the space sector needs advanced technologies, challenging know-how and continuous innovation. Thanks to this we are able to consolidate and expand our position in the research, space and defense markets and to preside over new markets such as laser communication and cybersecurity."

"Production value increased by 37 percent and revenues by 73 percent. As of Q1/23, the order backlog is 31 million with a volume of bids and negotiations in progress of over 125 million and an increase in revenues, compared to Q1/22, of 142%. The order backlog, business opportunities and production potential of the Space-Factory could outline even more significant numbers and indicators if they were not penalized by the skill shortage, which is why we are activating several actions to address the shortage of qualified talent and skills. The spaceeconomy market is on the launching pad, with volume growing steadily and strongly, and our vision is to be an important part of this growth," the CEO concluded.

Star Workshop on Friday closed in the green by 1.8 percent at EUR11.30 per share.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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