In 2021, Safilo's preliminary net sales amounted to Euro 969.6 million, up 26.3% at constant exchange rates and 24.3% at current exchange rates compared to Euro 780.3 million recorded in 2020, a year heavily penalized by the lockdowns and business restrictions imposed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
This strong business rebound also allowed the Group to significantly exceed the net sales registered in 2019, recording a growth of 7.5% at constant exchange rates and of 3.3% at current exchange rates.
Organic sales represented the main growth driver compared to the pre-pandemic business levels, up around 10% at constant exchange rates versus 2019, while the brand portfolio overhaul strategy implemented over the last two years enabled the Group to effectively compensate the business decline deriving from licenses terminated at the end of 2020 and at the end of June 2021 with new proprietary and licensed brands in the portfolio.
In 2021, the share of the Group’s total business deriving from online channels equalled 13.4% of sales, up from 12.7% in 2020 and 3.9% in 2019.
On a preliminary basis, the company closed the full year 2021 with an
adjusted3 EBITDA margin on sales of 8.7%, a performance which marked an exponential recovery compared to the break-even recorded in 2020 and an improvement of 170 basis points compared to the 7.0% margin posted in 2019.
On a preliminary basis, the Group's
net debt as at 31 December 2021 reduced to around Euro 94 million, compared to Euro 222.1 million in 2020. This reduction reflected the successful completion of the Group’s capital increase at the beginning of November 2021.
