(News Bulletin 247) – The Canet shipyard is not taking full advantage of the success for its range of boats. Catana Group suffers from disruptions in the supply chain in engines. In this context, the group did not wish to venture to provide the market with numerical forecasts for the current financial year.

Catana is not yet fully out of the storm of parts shortages. The designer and builder of catamarans announces that it is having difficulty obtaining supplies of engines, its engine partner still not managing to “honor the rhythm of contractual deliveries”.

This situation leads to a strong inertia “in the cycle of deliveries”, which pushes Catana to show caution on its numerical forecasts for the current financial year. However, the group intends to “record for the 7th consecutive year a financial year clearly outperforming the market.

But for the Stock Exchange, this little grain of sand that interferes in the business of Catana feeds the disappointment on the file. The action of the Occitan shipyard plunged 5.5% to 6.89 euros Tuesday around 3:30 p.m.

Order book boom

However, the former Poncin Yachts, which renamed itself Catana Group in 2014 to mark its refocusing on the catamaran segment, continues to benefit from public interest in its range of boats, Catana and Bali. Thus, Catana Group saw its sales of new boats jump 34% at mid-year (ending June) to reach 91.82 million euros thanks to “an excellent order book”.

The activities of the services division of the Port Pin Rolland subsidiary (handling, maintenance, repair and construction of platforms intended for daily rental professionals) also posted growth of 14% to 2.82 million euros over one year. In total, the shipyard achieved billings of 94.65 million euros, representing a growth of 33% compared to the first half of the 2021-2022 financial year.

The group is pleased to have been able to confirm in this first half of 2022/2023 the trend it has set in previous years.

An enrichment of the product range

However, the group takes note of a more “complex” geopolitical and economic situation with inflation and the rise in interest rates, which are all elements “likely to contract demand more or less if they persist “. According to Catana Group, this context has not yet affected the company’s order volume. The group also confirms that it is benefiting from a gradual improvement in its long-term visibility.

At the same time, the shipyard says it is working to enrich its product range. Catana Groupe indicates that it presented its new catamaran Bali Catsmart (11.8 meters) in world premiere at the international multihull show in La Grande Motte. This multihull is already a hit with this informed public, because “managing to offer all the recipes that make the success of the Bali concept”.

This type of multihull designed by Olivier Poncin and designed by the naval architect Xavier Faÿ introduced a certain number of innovations (rigid forward cockpit with large sundeck, disappearance of the trampoline, construction by sandwich infusion in polyester and PVC foam with cells lighter and stronger than the usual PVC/balsa…) while being -relatively- more accessible than the competition, which allows it to gain market share every year on most of the large sizes of the market, to less than 12 meters for the new Bali Catsmart up to more than 16 meters for the 5.4.

Catana Group specifies that the first invoicing generated by the marketing of this boat will take place at the end of the 2022/2023 financial year and “will therefore already have a positive impact on the next financial year”.

The company also intends to develop the Bali range in larger sizes (over 18 meters), as “generating a higher industrial margin”. Catana Group believes it can “have the peace of mind necessary to preserve its growth capacities, including in a market that is potentially a little less dynamic”.

The company’s forthcoming entry into the powerboat segment should also represent a sustained growth driver over the long term, adds Catana Group.