Breganze, 10.05.2010. Laverda Spa shareholders’ board has recently approved the last financial year. Despite the strong decrease of the demand that has invested the principal markets and the climate of diffused uncertainty produced by the persisting economic and financial crisis, the Breganze company closed 2009 with a turnover of 93 million euros.

Thanks to its high specialization in the production of harvesting machines, Laverda S.p.A., joint venture between the Italian group Argo and the American corporation AGCO, sold 742 combine harvesters during 2009. A result in reduction if compared with the sales realized in 2008, that however, was exceptional because of the extremely favourable conditions of the market.

Besides this, the customers’ difficulties in the access to credit and the low price of the agricultural products have not sustained the sector, forcing also Laverda to a careful downward revision of the sales estimate during 2009.

"Thanks to the great flexibility of Laverda, - declared Laverda managing director Mario Scapin - we have efficiently managed the situation. We have been able to adapt our approach to the changed requests of the market opportunely, and this has allowed us to reach a positive EBIT, with proportional values in line with the trend of the previous years."

The forecasts for the balance of the current financial year suggest maintaining a certain caution, as many elements that limited the propensity to invest in new agricultural machineries last year are still persisting nowadays.

The Central Europe markets manifest further notable contractions, whereas some feeble signals of economic recovery appear in Russia and in the dollar area.

"In the present circumstances, we foresee a small recovery of our volumes of business in a short time, supported by the technical innovations adopted for our product offer during the current sales campaign. The scenery appears more positive in the middle-term, also thanks to the contribution deriving from the transfer to Breganze of the production of the eight straw walker combines and, successively, of the hybrid combines", Scapin commented.

Important investments and radical changes are already in progress in order to make the production plant ready to receive the new production starting from September, when the first eight straw walker combines and, straight afterwards, the first hybrid combines will be turned out from the assembly line of the Breganze plant.

Fella-Werke GmbH (Feucht, Germany) had a particularly difficult year because of the general crisis and of the milk price. Despite this, the German company controlled by Laverda specializing in haymaking machines, “closes its balance with a profit and with an appreciable reduction of finished products in inventory, both at its premises and at its sales network ", as Reinhard Brunner, managing director at Feucht, declared.

For further information:
Simonetta Lambrocco
Communication and Public Relations Manager
Laverda S.p.A. – Via F. Laverda, 15/17 – 36042 Breganze (VI)
Tel.: +39 0445 - 385 305
Fax: +39 0445 - 385 593
Mob.: +39 335 84 55 892
e-mail: simonetta.lambrocco@laverdaworld.com