Maserati/IPO: business model needs tuning for listings race
The Italian group may find it difficult to go head to head with super sports car brands, but it is charting a different route
Can you hear a faint roar in the distance? It might be the sound of Maserati heading to the public markets. The Italian luxury sports car maker is still miles from that destination. But it is already a separate business within carmaker Stellantis.
With Porsche up almost 40 per cent since its float last year and Ferrari’s valuation thundering ahead, the market is starting to do a spot of window shopping.
Maserati is midway through a strategic U-turn. It is seeking to focus on profits rather than sales. It has spruced up its range, adding the MC20 model with a £200,000 price tag.
Revenues are growing again after a few tricky years, up 15 per cent in 2022 to €2.3bn. Ebit margins have also recovered, to 8.7 per cent in 2022. It is targeting 15 per cent by 2024 and 20 per cent longer term. No listing is likely before then.
Today, Maserati is miles behind Porsche and Ferrari. The average selling price of its cars is under €100,000, according to Bernstein analysis — not that different from pricier Mercedes or BMW cars. Ferraris can cost €500,000 or more. Porsche — whose models run a wide gamut — has higher volumes to lend a helping hand.
Maserati may find it difficult to go head to head with super sports car brands. But it is charting a different route. Maserati has pledged to bring out an electric version of all its models by 2025, and to go entirely electric by 2030. That is a canny move. It should help Maserati attract a different type of customer, not least among eco-conscious tech entrepreneurs.
How much might Maserati be worth? On today’s paltry margin, it would not deserve much of a premium to the likes of BMW, whose enterprise value is around one times last year’s sales. But the group does have room to raise profitability as it focuses on pricier models. If one — generously — applied Porsche’s valuation of 2.6 times last year’s sales, that would raise its enterprise value to €6bn.
Of course, the market would need to see continued evidence of a well-executed turnround before it gave the carmaker anything like that sort of accolade. Stellantis is right to keep Maserati in the garage until its engines are firing on all cylinders again.