2015 consolidated financial statements of illycaffè SpA

  • Business strategy - focused on premium hospitality, portioned systems and retail - progresses successfully 
  • Revenues up 12% against 2014, to €437 million 
  • Gross Operating Margin (EBITDA) up 7% against 2014 to €66.4 million 
  • International markets make up 63% of revenues, in constant growth
  • New Corporate Governance structure, with new members and confirmations


Trieste, 3 May 2016 - illycaffè announces results for the year ended as at 31 December 2015, following the Board of Directors' approval on 29 April of the Financial Statements and Consolidated Financial Statements for the period.

Consolidated revenues were up 12%, compared to 2014, to €437 million. The Gross Operating Margin (EBITDA) rose 7% to €66.4 million. Net debt was €115 million, with a debt/EBITDA ratio at 1.73%. At present, the Company employs 1,177 people worldwide.

Along with a satisfying domestic market growth, where revenues rose by 8% against 2014, the international growth trend experienced in the past few years has been confirmed.

Revenues outside Italy account now for 63% of total revenues: EMEA Area was up 8%, while the North American market - the most important after Italy - grew by 23% (partially due to foreign exchange effect). Also, in this key geographic area strategic partnerships were signed with top players: the market leader Keurig for the new K-Cup/illy pods, United Airlines to offer illy coffee on board and in locations worldwide, and more recently, Amazon.
Also China - the fastest growing market for illycaffè - registered a very positive performance  with revenues up 60% against previous year (at current rates). 

Besides some extraordinary events occurred in 2015 – business agreement with Coca-Cola for the distribution of illy ready-to-drink beverages transformed from joint venture into licensing model; acquisition of the majority stake in Mitaca, specialised in office coffee service and automatic distribution; a bond issue ensuring greater financial flexibility to support the Company's growth plans - retail operations continued expanding both in Italy and abroad, with 29 new mono brand stores opened, including both illy Caffè and illy Shop formats. 

EXPO Milano 2015, where illycaffè has been Official Coffee Partner and curator of the Coffee Cluster, with 13 million visitors, was the greatest celebration of coffee in history. Here, illy, faithful to its innovation tradition, presented the Personal Blender concept; a robotic system enabling the user to create his/her own personalised blend starting from the best nine Arabica coffee types selected by illy.

“Results for 2015 - Andrea Illy declared - confirm the validity of the growth program launched last year, aiming to strengthen the company's qualitative leadership by developing premium hospitality globally, portioned systems and mono brand retail in the most important cities of the world.”


In order to face the increasingly challenging competitive scenario, illycaffè Shareholders' Meeting approved a new Corporate Governance organisation, entailing - for the Board of Directors in charge for the next three years - both confirmed current members and new ones appointed.

The entrepreneur Andrea Illy was reappointed as President, whilst Marina Salamon was appointed Vice-President.

For the first time illycaffè appoints an external Chief Executive Officer, Massimiliano Pogliani. He gained his professional, international experience with Saeco, Nespresso, Nestlé Super Premium and Vertu. *

Francesco Illy joins the Board in charge of Brand Equity, while Anna Belci Illy has been reappointed, being in charge for Corporate Reputation and Strategic Acquisitions. Riccardo Illy will represent in the Board the sole shareholder, Gruppo Illy SpA. 

Among the independent directors, traditionally part of illycaffè’s Board, besides Marina Salamon, Pierluigi Celli has also been reconfirmed. The new members appointed are some of the most acclaimed professionals in their specific activity areas: Alberto Baldan, Chief Executive Officer of la Rinascente; Roberto Eggs, Chief Operating Officer of Moncler; Douglas T. Hickey, General Commissioner of the USA Pavilion, Expo Milan 2015.

Professor and lawyer Mario Cannata is reappointed as Secretary and Legal Advisor. The members of the Board of Auditors and of the Supervisory Committee are Maurizio Dallocchio, President, Umberto Picciafuochi and Michela Del Piero. 

Finally, Anna Illy is reappointed Honorary President.

“This structure – Andrea Illy declares - aims at exploiting the family's manifold entrepreneurial skills, integrating them with extraordinary external talents. But, above all, it fully defines the model of illy as a family-owned business with a strong managerial approach. I have long believed that growth is mandatory and that managerialization is the only possible way forward for Italian family businesses that have reached a certain size and complexity level.”    

* Massimiliano Pogliani is appointed as Chief Executive Officer of illycaffè after 20 years of marketing, commercial and retail experience, acquired in leading companies with premium & luxury brands.
Milanese, with long professional experience abroad, and graduated cum laude in Economics at Cattolica University in Milan. He has post-degree education from the London Business School and the IMD Business School in Lausanne.
After some initial professional experiences, he joined Saeco International Group as Head of Global Marketing, acting also as member of the IPO team for the company listing at Milan Stock Exchange.

In 2003, he began his experience in the Swiss headquarters of Nestlé Nespresso SA. As Head of International Retail & Customer Management, he handled the growth of the Nespresso Boutiques at a global level, customer service (Nespresso Club) and trade marketing.
From 2008 to 2012, he was first Chief Commercial & Marketing Officer and then CEO of Nestlé Super Premium SA, a division of Nestlé created to speed up the expansion of some Nestlé brands in the super premium consumer segment.
In 2012 he moved to England to join Vertu, called in by the private equity fund, EQT. In Vertu, leader in the luxury mobile phone segment, he was first Chief Marketing Officer and then CEO, successfully transforming the company till it was sold to a new investor.

“The international managerial profile of Massimiliano Pogliani – comments Andrea Illy – together with his great marketing & retail competences with super-premium brands and his in-depth knowledge of the coffee world, is a perfect match in this stage of our growth path, where we need to accelerate global growth of the illy brand by strengthening our high-end positioning”. 

“For me it is a great honour to come back to Italy to manage such a prestigious company – says Massimiliano Pogliani - that has been able to grow organically and consolidate its global presence thanks to a total passion for its customers and an obsession for the quality of its products. I would like to thank Andrea Illy for giving me the chance to be the first CEO from outside the family and I am convinced that, together, we will expand this great brand even further, successfully continuing the current business strategy”.