Groupe Beneteau finished the second quarter with revenues increasing 38.1% to $608.3 million (€550 million) compared with a year prior. The results improved revenues for the first half of the year to $1.14 billion (€1.03 billion), an increase of 43.8%.
Beneteau said it has ramped up its boat-rental operations. In the United States, the company increased its interest from 40% to 49% in Your Boat Club, which has 38 locations. In Europe, Groupe Beneteau acquired a stake in the capital of Wiziboat, with the intent to take control of the company this summer. The digital app allows users to set up short-term rentals and is available at 21 locations in France. Eventually, Beneteau says, it wants to operate around 100 rental locations across Europe and North America with a fleet of more than 1,000 boats for approximately 9,000 members.
Additionally, Groupe Beneteau acquired a 20% minority interest in Yacht Solutions, which had $3.5 million (€3.2 million) in revenues in 2022.
“With these three strategic initiatives, Groupe Beneteau is once again moving closer to its user customers, providing solutions that are aligned with the various use cases while helping its boat division to continue developing and opening up new business opportunities for its distribution network,” CEO Bruno Thivoyon said in a statement.
Boat sales were $899.45 million (€8133 million) in the first half of the year, a 48.3% improvement compared with 2022. The split for 2023 was 44% sail and 56% power. Geographically, Europe had a 47.9% increase from 2022 to 2023, while the Americas were up 46.7%, and other regions saw a 38.2% jump.
The boat division’s revenue forecast is to exceed $1.6 billion (€1.45 billion) for the full year, an increase of 16% compared with 2022. Beneteau also expects the marine segment to achieve an 11.5% operating margin for 2023.
