Roca has limited the impact of the coronavirus crisis on its turnover to 9.5%. The leading company in sanitary porcelain for the bathroom closed 2020 with a turnover of 1,684 million euros, according to the annual accounts approved at the general shareholders' meeting that the group held this week in Barcelona. Despite the decrease in revenue, the company managed to improve its EBITDA by 21%, to 306 million. Net profit decreased by 12%, to 60 million euros.
In addition to ratifying these figures, Roca shareholders approved at the meeting the appointment of Guayente Sanmartín Gabas as an independent director. Sanmartín, born in Barcelona in 1968, is currently the general manager and global head of HP's 3D Multijet Fusion printing business. Based at the campus that this American multinational has in Sant Cugat, the executive has been working at HP for more than 30 years, where she joined as soon as she finished her telecommunications engineering studies at the UPC.
According to the company led by Albert Magrans, sales were "strongly affected" in the first half of the year, but in the second half of the year a progressive recovery began thanks to the increase in demand experienced in certain countries, such as China, Germany, Austria, Poland and Switzerland. On the contrary, in Spain, the slowdown and strong restrictions on activity caused a decrease in sales that has put an end to the growth path that had been maintained since 2014.
In total, Roca executed investments of 106 million euros in 2020, mainly aimed at strengthening the production capacity of sanitary porcelain in Brazil, Russia and China. It should be noted that the group is one of the most internationalized Spanish companies with the largest industrial presence in the foreign market, with 85 factories and operations in 75 countries. Its workforce exceeds 24,000 employees.
Founded in 1917 as a radiator manufacturer, Roca maintains its commitment to permanently strengthen itself with selective acquisitions that allow it to grow in certain countries or business segments. Thus, in 2020 the group made a strong leap in size in the bathroom furniture market with the acquisition of 75% of Royo Group. In addition, the company incorporated a new factory in Brazil and this year has already grown in Europe with the purchase of the German firm Sanit, specialized in concealed or wall-mounted cisterns.