CASTA DIVA GROUP: BALANCE SHEET A YEAR AFTER BEING QUOTED ON THE STOCK MARKET

July 11, 2017

It is now almost a year since Casta Diva Group was quoted on the Milan AIM (the stock market for small and medium-sized businesses with high potential for growth), and it is now time to look at the balance sheet for Andrea De Micheli and Luca Oddo, respectively CEO and President of the multinational operating in the communication sector.

“We set out on this road, a little unusual for our industry,” explain the two managers, “with the objective of becoming a high-visibility player in the sector of advertising spots, events and digital communication, at a time when corporate communication is relying more and more on the creation of content, in other words videos, events or programmes able to attract its target audience and to engage with it in a social game of conversation and sharing. In December we acquired 70% of Anteprima Video, thus giving us one of Italy’s best post-production houses, an important link in the production and creative chain, which further enhances our offer to our clients. In the first few months of the year we strengthened our workforce with the appointment of Max Prato as Chief Operating Officer and more recently with Francesco Merone as Chief Financial Officer.

The 2017-2019 strategic plan, which we presented on 6th June, is based on the integration and the valorisation of the companies we acquired in 2016, but we also want to implement a programme of company acquisitions at an international level, thanks to new operations on capital, which we shall come back to later. The plan has received immense interest from the market, which has given us an impressive +44% (best in market) way above normal.

The plan forsees growth of +10%, by way of expansion in the business area of “Spot – Digital Video Content” where turnover is predicted to grow from the present €16 million to €21.5 million at a time when Casta Diva has positioned itself as the/a production company with the biggest international reach, and also due to growth in the area of “Events – Live and Digitial Communication”, which has gone from €8.9 million to €12 million,” continue De Micheli and Oddo.

“The uniqueness of what we are creating has also been recognised by the new status given by Innovative PMI, certified by the Milan Chamber of Commerce. As innovation in products and processes has always been in our entrepreneurial DNA, we are especially happy with this result.”

“Last but not least, on the 28th of last month we announced an agreement with Bracknor Investment, an investment fund run by Aboudi Gassam and with headquarters in Dubai, whose aim is to invest globally in PMIs which possess uniquely competitive advantages and real potential. This agreement means that Bracknor will invest up to €4.5 million in Casta Diva and expand its team in the social sphere beyond Europe, by way of investors very much alert at spotting opportunities in Italy.” For them Casta Diva represents in the sector of communication what many Italian companies represent in the field of fashion and design, namely that “Italian Touch” which so excites the world. The agreement with Bracknor will contribute to strengthening our capital and financial structure and will allocate over the next three years adequate resources to develop and grow our international expansion.
“So, twelve months of great intensity, which have given an enormous boost to the growth of our business… and this is only the beginning,” in the words of De Micheli and Oddo.