Panorama- “The success of the superyachts? It is in the young heart”

Giovanni Costantino, CEO of The Italian Sea Group anticipates the future of his shipyard and incoming top yachts.

 The financial report approved on 30 June confirms the rise of The Italian Sea Group, a global operator in the yachting industry. Total revenues 133,6-million-euro, marking 65,1 % more respect to the same period in 2021; Ebitda equals 19,9 million euros that show 94,2% more.

Giovanni Costantino, Founder and CEO of the Company, has declared to be proud of the achieved results: “They confirm the validity of the strategy, the solidity of the project development and our capacity to realize it.

Panorama, almost a year after its historic acquisition of Perini Navi, a leading brand in the production of large sailing ships, met with him.

One of the big news concerns you closely. In the Company, the Costantino became two.

Yes. My son Gianmaria has joined the board. It is the first step of a succession plan which will ensure strong management continuity in the year.

Generational changes are sometimes a slippery slope.

Not in this case, Gianmaria has a degree in Economics and Finance from Bocconi, has been following TISG’s activities for 4 years, and has been with me throughout the steps leading up to our IPO. His entry, besides, will be gradual. He will make first a course of study and then a profession that will allow him to enter through the front door.

Speaking of young people TISG invests heavily in them. In the imagination, though, yachting is more the business of experienced managers.

Disagree. Young people, often, are better performers. We have 200 of them in the company, and the exciting fact is that many of them who only five years ago were interns are now in senior roles. They have a bright future ahead of them, with very significant salaries and benefits. We have also established an award that will be presented quarterly to an employee under 30 who has distinguished himself or herself through dedication and ability. It is an incentive of 5,000 euros.

They will be grateful to you for life. Do you have to say thank you to anyone?

One man’s fortune is always another man. The attention I have for young people is a result of my life and professional background. Although I have always had entrepreneurial visions and sensibility, for me, the engineer Luigi Vitolo, Pasquale Natuzzi and Giorgetto Giugiaro have been fundamental among men.

Super package. Your group includes Admiral, Tecnomar,NCA Refit, and the most recently acquired Perini Navi and Picchiotti. Are there other desires on the radar?

Yes, but I cannot say more than that. Let’s talk about the present.

Of Admiral’s superyacht Panorama? Of Picchiotti’s fleet? Of Perini’s new Maltese Falcon that the whole world can’t wait to admire?

The first is a 50-meter masterpiece, made of steel with an aluminium superstructure, created in collaboration with the Design Studio Piredda & Partners. It enters the segment of the semi-custom, as does Picchiotti’s Gentleman fleet where, however, the pencil is that of Luca Dini, a longtime architect. On the Maltese, I pass. It is such an iconic project that I have decided not to communicate it until it is ready. It is beyond imaginable, when I saw it I cried tears of emotion. Of Perini, I can only anticipate that the production of four new models, from 47 to 80 meters, is proceeding splendidly also because we have teamed up with the best there is in the international sailing yacht design scene, namely Malcom McKeon. The partnership with the designer certainly takes into account the brand’s classic styles, but reinterprets them in a modern way and according to TISG’s standards. These sailing yachts are scheduled to be unveiled in early 2023.

Good to start the year this way.

Absolutely. Although we are focused on our core business of large ships, 60 meters and up, which translates into an order book that is about to bypass the billion euro mark.