IN THE SPOTLIGHT

EtErno IvIca for MEdItErranEo caMpIng vIllagE

For over 50 years the village has offered its customers stays in complete relax, nature and fun in the shade of the fresh and lush pine forest in which it is immersed. But this year the camping has reached an important milestone: it has acquired the much sought-after fifth star thus raising its quality standards to offer an even more special holiday. This important recognition comes together with the creation of Le Terrazze

del Mediterraneo: a seafront area consisting of a 2000sqm water park and a complex of three multi-service

buildings, aimed at enhancing and expanding the offer of the structure inaugurated with the reopening of the 2020 summer season. And it is right here, in the external Spa area, that Eterno Ivica has given its

contribution for 1100 sqm with numerous Pedestal supports that have been able to cover heights up to 1,20

meters. In particular, were used the Eterno SE range, with the tilting head able to compensate up to 5% of slope, the New Maxi NM range with fixed head and with a breaking load above the market average and also many Start.T supports, the thinnest of the Pedestal line. Furthermore, for the first time, the new criss-cross head for joists, one of the latest innovations launched in recent months by Eterno Ivica, was installed on a portion of the flooring. This new type of head for supports allows to place one to four aluminium joists on the same head, thus making the laying of multi-format plates even easier and more versatile.

RAK CERAMICS CONFIDENT OF A POST-PANDEMIC RECOVERY

Unlike other businesses, RAK Ceramics’ first-half 2020 results were only partially affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The UAE-based ceramic giant, which has more than 20 plants spread across the UAE, India and Bangladesh where it produces tiles, sanitaryware and tableware, saw the parent company’s sales remain substantially stable in the first quarter of the year. But since the end of March it has had to cope with the closure of production plants and the prolonged lockdown imposed by local governments in India and Bangladesh, as well as the closure of the borders between countries in the GCC area. “It would be an understatement to say that the first half of 2020 has been a challenging environment,” admits RAK Ceramics’ CEO Abdallah

Tile International: How did you tackle the emergency and what are your expectations now that the worst seems to be over? Abdallah Massaad: We have been proactive in implementing a wide range of measures designed to mitigate the impact of Covid-19, including production optimisation. At the end of March 2020, we completely shut down production in India and Bangladesh in line with the government’s guidelines. In the UAE, we significantly reduced our production to meet demand, but were able to avoid a complete shutdown. From July, UAE production began running at an optimal capacity due to an increase in demand of tiles and sanitaryware, especially from Saudi Arabia and other markets.Although we expect this situation to impact our performance in the next few months, we are confident that our strong foundations and sound business model will enable us to face this unprecedented challenge and

emerge as a stronger organisation. Despite these challenges we remain cautiously optimistic and are working hard to not only protect but strengthen our business. As we move towards the end of the year, we remain focused on running an efficient and profitable business, protecting our growth in the UAE, India, and Bangladesh and progressing our growth plans in Saudi Arabia. We will also look to diversify and improve profitability in key export markets. We are focused on implementing measures to limit the impact of Covid-19 on our tableware business, which is heavily dependent upon the airline and hospitality industries. However, the demand for tableware and building materials is gradually increasing and a full recovery will without a doubt happen when the pandemic ends. Meanwhile we are doing everything to take all necessary actions internally. Tile International: In the first half of the year you reported excellent results in Sau-

Massaad. “Our second quarter performance, especially in May, was significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic in strategic markets such as India, Bangladesh and the Gulf region. Despite this, I am pleased to say that we delivered satisfactory results in the first half of the year and have begun to see signs of recovery as borders reopen and economies restart.” Despite the severe impact of the pandemic, the group has shown great resilience and has come through the most difficult period while expecting to see a stronger recovery over the coming months.

We spoke to Abdallah Massaad and Leonardo De Muro, VP International Business Development & Marketing.

di Arabia. What is the situation now? A. Massaad: In the first quarter of 2020, our Saudi Arabian entities demonstrated a strong performance compared to the previous year, with total revenue increasing by 70.6% to AED 91.5 million (around US $25 million). This was driven by an increase in tiles sales of 80.8% to AED 86 million. We were obviously affected by the closure of Saudi Arabia’s borders due to Covid-19, as a result of which second quarter revenue in Saudi Arabia fell slightly on 2019 (-2.2%). This was mainly due to lower sanitaryware sales (-12.1%), whereas tile sales remained stable. Following the difficulties in April and especially May, we responded with a positive post-lockdown recovery in June, thanks to a significant increase in orders and our decision to switch deliveries to truck despite incurring higher freight costs. We have positioned ourselves as a premium product supplier in Saudi Arabia with many differentiated Chiara Bruzzichelliproducts compared to local manufacturers. Last year c.bruzzichelli@tiledizioni.itwe opened two new showrooms in Riyadh and we are progressing plans to open additional showrooms in Jeddah. Our operations in Saudi Arabia have followed the UAE business model, which is proving to be very effective. The imposition of anti-dumping duty on tiles imported from China and India to the GCC has also increased demand for our products and we are well-positioned to take advantage of this opportunity and meet the market demand. We remain optimistic for long-term growth in Saudi Arabia beyond the Covid-19 economic recovery, and growth in the Kingdom is likely to offset any slowdown elsewhere in the region. Tile International: In which other markets are you seeing a recovery in demand? A. Massaad: In Europe, following the easing of lockdown measures in June, sales are improving from one month to the next. Italy, UK and Germany kept the nor-

RAK CERAMICS’ 2019 RESULTS

RAK Ceramics closed the 2019 financial year with total revenues of AED 2.57 billion (approx. US $700 million), down 5.6% on 2018 (or -2.8% on a constant currency basis). This figure is seen

as being “in line with market expectations” and is a result of the

planned transition to lower volumes and higher profitability

for tiles, counterbalanced by growth in the sanitaryware BU

(+4%) and the tableware BU (+2.2%). The group reported excel-

lent results in terms of profitability, with an increase in gross

profit margin to 33.2% and 8.9% growth in EBITDA. This was a result of the group’s continued focus on product differentiation,

product optimisation and improved operational efficiencies by

leveraging automation and process enhancements. RAK Ceram-

ics has an annual capacity of 138 million sqm of tiles, 5 million

pieces of sanitaryware and 24 million pieces of tableware in

more than 20 plants in the UAE, India and Bangladesh.

Abdallah Massaad