Leap years are said to be tough. But not for everyone: Gibus, a brand specialized in premium sunscreens and bioclimatic pergolas, closed 2020 with revenue growth of 10 percent, reaching 45.1 million euros.
The driving force, according to the company, has been the performance of the premium luxury segment, accounting for 19.6 million euros (+20.6 percent over 2019), representing 45 percent of the total: in the breakdown, the Sustainability Line (zip screens), where the protagonist is the Click Zip family of products, generated 14 percent of revenues, while the Luxury High-Tech Line (bioclimatic pergolas), also thanks to extension of sizes on all the catalogue models, represented 31 percent of the total. A fundamental role was played by the Gibus Atelier network of dealers: the income generated by the network was equal to 34.8 million euros (+13.9 over 2019), powering overall growth both in Italy (+14.9 percent) and abroad (+9.1 percent).
“The revenue growth in 2020 is an exceptional result, especially if we consider the context in which it has happened, influenced by the pandemic and the closing of production plants during the spring lockdown,” says Gianfranco Bellin, President and CEO of the company.
“In spite of the fact that the crisis had a negative impact on the hotel and restaurant sector, which reported an inevitable drop in sales, compensation came from the residential market: paradoxically, the extended time spent in the home led many consumers to reconsider the importance of investing in outdoor spaces, with a particular focus on terraces and gardens, where our products are often utilized.”
It is important that this result, Bellin emphasizes, “has been supported in a balanced way on the national market, where we confirm our leadership with growth of +11.2 percent, and on foreign markets, where we had a sales increase of +8 percent. The achievement abroad is even more striking if we consider the fact that for almost the whole year our export area managers were not able to travel to meet with clients, but had to operate through digital communication systems.”
