Jérémy Tedguy, who will take over at the helm of the Alliance Marine group in the summer of 2023, talks to BoatIndustry about his analysis of the yachting industry's economic situation and the main thrusts of the policy he intends to pursue at the helm of the specialist in distribution and equipment for professional and leisure marine.
How do you see the situation for the yachting industry in 2024?
2023 was a year of consolidation in terms of volume after 2 euphoric years. Within the Alliance Marine group, yachting sales stabilized, or even fell slightly, while professional marine sales grew, with the military market as an underlying driver, which should lead us to report higher sales in 2023.
Northern countries have suffered more than southern ones. It's hard to pinpoint the causes, but as the South experienced steadier growth in 2020-21 than the North, with a sharp jump, the downturn is less pronounced. What's more, the conflict in Ukraine made its mark more quickly in Germany and Sweden than in France and Italy.
Let's look at the situation again. In 2021, the global supply chain was saturated. In 2022, high inflation, and in 2023, a rise in interest rates, no less than 10 times in 14 months. Added to this complicated macroeconomic climate is the war in Israel, the consequences of which are difficult to anticipate. so, 2024 is a year of uncertainty, but our industry has always shown its resilience. So we remain cautiously optimistic. After a rather weak aftermarket year, we can look forward to a rebound that we don't necessarily expect.
What strategy can we expect from the Group over this period?
2024 will be a management year. There are no external growth projects in the pipeline. It's an interesting time to restate the fundamentals of our strategy. We are determined to become Europe's leading BtoB distributor for pleasure craft and professional marine equipment. This means expanding in countries where we are not sufficiently represented. The Group's cross-functional structuring approach, particularly at export and marketing level, is a step in this direction, accompanied by a major IT project with harmonization that will enable greater interaction between subsidiaries.
Development will be primarily BtoB. There is no desire to accelerate international BtoC development through external growth. The takeover of 12Seemeilen was above all guided by the desire to learn faster in BtoC online sales, which has been virtuous for AD Nautic's online development.
We aim to keep a 20-25% share of proprietary products. We have a few strong brands and products that we need to manufacture in areas such as security. For the rest, we need to rationalize our brand portfolio, to simplify references for all our subsidiaries under a single brand.
Stock levels are an argument put forward by some retailers. How do you rate yours?
We believe we have one of the highest stock levels in the sector, and one of the highest we've ever had, at a normative level of ?100 million. Having more stock wouldn't do much for our customers; what counts is the quality of the stock, and the improvement in its rotation.
How does Alliance Marine plan to respond to the environmental crisis, both for itself and for the equipment distribution sector?
Our industry needs to undergo a revolution within the next 10-15 years, or risk losing consumer acceptance. Today, 75-80% of boats are motorboats. We need a revolution in propulsion and hull treatment. As a distributor, we have a role to play in energy and upstream and downstream transport. We've already installed solar panels at VDM Reya and Intermer. We're also working on packaging, as at Plastimo, gradually phasing out plastic packaging in favor of more recyclable containers. Companies are also involved more locally, such as Bukh Bremen for an oceanographic vessel. This year, we are carrying out our 1st carbon assessment. This assessment will lead to a series of actions to be implemented, notably concerning the composition of equipment and finding suppliers closer to home. It's a process we're initiating.
