Bono’s revolution at Fincantieri

Genoa - In a decision that surprised the company’s upper management, Fincantieri’s C.E.O. Giuseppe Bono revealed that he had taken interim responsibility for the group’s merchant ship division. The news, which was not announced by the company, was confirmed for Il Secolo XIX by two different sources. The merchant ship division has historically been Fincantieri’s most important business unit, and it is located at Monfalcone (Gorizia), Marghera (Venice), Genoa Sestri Ponente, Ancona, Castellammare di Stabia (Naples) and Palermo. These are sites that are dedicated to the construction of cruise ships and ferries, a sector in which Fincantieri is a global leader. Gabriele Cocco, the manager who was directly responsible for them until yesterday, was shifted to a different role. Given the situation, Bono appointed Alberto Maestrini (Military Ships Manager) and Pier Francesco Ragni (Business Development Manager) as Deputy General Managers. Bono’s decision matured during a particularly delicate time for Fincantieri.

After the resignation of General Manager Andrea Mangoni and the rumours (denied until today) of the need for a capital increase, investors are waiting to hear the company’s strategic plan, which will be announced concurrently with the budget. Presenting data on the first months of 2015 (which ended with losses of 96 million), Bono explained that “the trend in management reflects the strong increase in productive activity and design. This increase is the consequence of the significant growth in the order portfolio. However, the weight of orders for prototype ships, acquired with low margins during the worst part of the crisis to keep production going, penalised the group’s profitability. In addition to that, there were the effects of the crisis in the oil and gas sector, caused by the unpredictable drop in the price of oil, and the persistence of Vard’s difficulties in Brazil, which was also linked to the economic and political situation in that Country.”

According to rumours, it was the delays accumulated in the construction of the cruise ship Carnival Vista, in the Monfalcone shipyard (which for the moment are not a cause for concern), that accelerated Bono’s decision. Not by chance, in recent days at the productive sites in the North East, the company summoned a few former shipyard managers whose experience is clearly considered very precious at this juncture. Fincantieri, besides having consolidated its relationship with the American group Carnival, signed an historic agreement with the Aponte family’s MSC Group and was chosen by Virgin Cruises for the construction of its first cruise ships: two deals that Bono certainly doesn’t want to lose.