MILAN -- Ferrari said it was targeting a modest increase in core profit this year and gave no indication of who would take over as its new CEO from Louis Camilleri, who stepped down from the role in December.
Ferrari did not provide any details about the search for a new boss. The automaker is now led on an interim basis by Chairman John Elkann, the scion of the Agnelli family which controls Ferrari through its holding company EXOR.
Elkann said Ferrari had set up a search committee to identify the right successor to Camilleri, but provided no further details. "We want to take the necessary time to find the best possible CEO," he told analysts on Tuesday.
The shortlist of potential candidates has been narrowed to three top managers, all from fashion, luxury and design sectors, the Italian business paper MF reported on Monday, citing the CEO of Gucci, Marco Bizzarri; the former CEO of Valentino, Stefano Sassi; and Hans Hoegstedt, current CEO of Tom Dixon.
In an earnings statement on Tuesday, Ferrari said its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) would come in between 1.45 billion euros ($1.7 billion) and 1.50 billion euros this year, after falling 10 percent to 1.14 billion euros in 2020.
Analysts at Citi said while Ferrari posted a good a set of results in the fourth quarter of last year, as expected, the year ahead was more problematic. "Guidance was somewhat disappointing, in our view," they said.
In November, at third-quarter results, then-CEO Camilleri said Ferrari was set to enter 2021 with a very strong order book, adding "we should have a pretty strong year".
Car shipments fell back below 10,000 units last year as the group recovered from a seven-week production suspension in early 2020 triggered by the coronavirus health crisis. But Ferrari said production in the second half of the year was in line with plans.
Chief Financial Officer Antonio Picca Piccon said orders for Ferrari cars were at record levels, up 22 percent on last year and covering the whole of 2021 and beyond.
