Princess Yachts has started a program to get back into profit as orders exceed £0.5 billion
by Camilla Bianchi
After a year marked by intense investments, Princess Yachts Limited today reports a marked turnaround from previous years. 2015 saw an operating loss of £18.1m on a turnover of £201.2m, and in 2016 the loss had more than halved to £7.0m on a turnover of £216.7m, indicating a strong positive turnaround.
Anthony Sheriff
Having endured a challenging trading environment – in common with other luxury yacht makers – Princess began 2016 by developing an aggressive business strategy and initiating restructuring of its operations at its facilities in Plymouth.
These important steps have both delivered business efficiencies and safeguarded employment for more than 2,350 people. In parallel, the launch of 4 new models has set the stage for a three-year £55m investment programme which will broaden and strengthen the Princess model range.
Following record sales at the Cannes, Düsseldorf and Ft. Lauderdale boat shows, orders across the range now exceed an extraordinary £0.5 billion.
The current year will see a new model launched, on average, every two months. 2016 was the first full year at the helm for the company’s Executive Chairman, Antony Sheriff, who said: «We are encouraged to see a positive and rapid turnaround. Over the course of 2016 our order book has increased by over 60% from already strong levels, driven by a 25% increase in the retail sales rate which has outstripped production. In 2017, these indicators have continued to improve, which is the clearest signal of the strength of our brand and the enthusiasm with which our customers have embraced our new yachts. Moving forward, with strong shareholder support, we are convinced that our ambitious strategy to aggressively invest in both our new products and our workforce at our historic Plymouth facilities, has already brought significant benefits to the business, with more to come as 2017 is shaping up to be a year that drives us to the next level».
