Fincantieri triples first-half profit as backlog reaches €73.9bn
The Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri nearly tripled net profit in the first half of 2026, reporting €102m against €35m a year earlier, while EBITDA rose 12.5% to €350m. Revenue was broadly flat at €4.58bn and the EBITDA margin improved by 0.8 percentage points to 7.6%. Adjusted net profit advanced to €113m from €48m.
The divisional split shows where the growth is coming from. Shipbuilding revenue fell 5.9% to €3.157bn, partly because the comparable period included an Indonesian Navy order for two vessels, yet segment EBITDA still climbed 7.9% to €236m with the margin up a full point to 7.5%. Cruise revenue rose 14.5%. The Underwater division grew fastest, with revenue up 29.9% to €356m and EBITDA up 29.7% to €60m — a small base, but the segment the group is clearly building around.
The backlog is the headline figure. Total order backlog grew 17% from year-end to €73.916bn, comprising €43.016bn firm and €30.9bn soft, with 92 vessels on order and deliveries extending to 2039. Order intake in the half was €6.12bn against €14.744bn a year earlier, excluding major contracts signed but not yet effective, so the backlog growth reflects the size of previously booked work rather than a repeat of last year's intake.
The balance sheet improved substantially. Adjusted net debt fell to €756m from €1.311bn at the end of 2025, taking leverage to 1.0 times from 1.9 times; excluding a €500m capital increase completed in February, leverage stood at 1.7 times. Guidance for 2026 is unchanged at revenue of €9.3bn to €9.4bn, EBITDA of €700m to €710m, an EBITDA margin of about 7.5% and net profit of €140m to €180m.
The group is buying its way further into the underwater segment. Majority stakes in Next Geosolutions, WSense, Graal Tech and Defcomm have been agreed for an initial outlay of about €600m, with the Underwater division expected on a pro-forma basis to generate €1.1bn of revenue and €220m of EBITDA in 2026 and the acquisitions contributing more than €60m to pro-forma net profit, though their contribution to reported results is expected only from January 2027. Chief executive Pierroberto Folgiero said the results confirm a growth trajectory characterised by strong profitability expansion and value creation.
