Fedrigoni, a global supplier of specialty papers for luxury packaging and other creative applications, self-adhesive labels, graphic supports for visual communication and RFID, closed Q3 2024 with revenues of 468.3 million euros compared to 412.0 million in the same period of 2023 (+13.7%) and an adjusted EBITDA of 61.7 million, 8.2% higher than the 57.0 million in Q3 2023.

The company confirmed a growth trajectory for the first nine months of the year, which stood at 1.425.4 million in revenues (+8.7% compared to 1.311.2 million in January-September 2023) and 221.7 million in adjusted EBITDA (+8.2%, up from 204.9 million).

The Group is set to end the year with revenues of over 2 billion euros. “2024 was characterized again by a discrete volatility,” comments CEO Marco Nespolo. “We started with good results in the first six months, partially driven by a recovery in the destocking trend across the value chains we serve. In the latter part of the year, we had a gradual slowdown, mainly due to softening growth in some end markets such as luxury and wine and spirits. Overall, it was a pretty positive year that we estimate to close with about 10% growth in revenues and EBITDA. In fact, barring any particular surprises in the last months of the year, we expect 2024 revenues to exceed €2 billion (up from €1.8 billion in 2023) and pro forma EBITDA to exceed €370 million, up about 10% from the previous year (€337.7 million).”

With nearly 6,000 people in 28 countries and 78 plants, including production sites, cutting and distribution centers, Fedrigoni sells and distributes its 25,000 products in 132 countries around the world. In 2024, the Group kept pursuing its industrial plan and completed four M&A deals: the acquisition of a specialty papers plant in China, formerly part of the Arjowiggins Group; a minority stake in the start-up SharpEnd as part of the company’s focus on digitized product offerings; the acquisition of some assets of Mohawk, the second largest specialty papers player in North America; and the acquisition of Poli-Tape, a producer of graphic materials for visual communication. Today, it is the world’s leading player in wine labels and specialty papers for luxury packaging, the second in drawing papers, and the third in self-adhesive materials and RFID inlays and tags manufacturing.

The RFID business (UHF, HF and NFC) is becoming increasingly strategic for Fedrigoni, which is capitalizing on this fast-growing market and exploiting all possible synergies within the Group, developing, for example, smart papers and smart labels that enable a wide range of applications such as product authentication, anti-counterfeiting, track and trace, supply chain visibility and greatly improved customer experiences, to name just a few. The Fedrigoni RFID business – Tageos, a global supplier of RFID inlays and tags that joined the Group in 2022 – saw revenues for the first nine months of 2024 increase by 142% compared to those for the same period in 2023 (€92.2 million versus €38.1 million); adjusted EBITDA from January to September 2024, more than tripled from €4.7 million (9M A 2023) to €15.6 million (9M A 2024, +231.9%).

“We keep growing globally, and only 20% of our turnover comes from Italy,” says Nespolo. “In the coming years, we intend to accelerate even harder on our global presence, focusing in particular on North America, Latin America and Asia Pacific. We have an ambitious investment plan to sustain growth over the next four years (2025-2028): over 300 million euros globally, of which about 100 million in Italy, to innovate products and make them more and more sustainable, beautiful and high-performing, with the aim of replacing plastic wherever possible and enabling full circularity, but also to make our production sites even more efficient, safe and sustainable in terms of environmental impact.”

Fedrigoni’s strategic plan envisions self-adhesive materials to focus on consolidating its position in premium labels and establishing its graphics and visual communication solutions. In the specialty papers business, the company aims to consolidate leadership in solutions for luxury packaging and high-end creative communication but also growing in segments such as gift cards, playing cards and smart papers. Finally, RFID inlays and tags are one of the areas with the highest growth potential. With an extensive investment plan of more than 50 million euros, the Group plans to further expand production, sales, and research and development, and to significantly extend the product offerings for a variety of segments such as logistics, retail, luxury goods, healthcare and pharma, food, industrial manufacturing, public transport and ticketing. The goal is to further accelerate the RFID business (Tageos) and continue this successful growth both organically and through new acquisitions.