Catana Group has reported a 21% decrease in new boat sales, in line with previous quarters.
However, the Group says that given the geopolitical situation, with the American economic position and a series of wars, the trading sessions of the past few weeks have been very respectable and could suggest the end of the market’s downward cycle.
The announcement comes as the Group provides an update into the effect of a major wildfire on July 2 2026 which destroyed two buildings on its Canet-en-Roussillon, France, site along with six boats with a market value of more than €9 million.
The fire, fuelled by drought and strong winds, initially broke out a few kilometers from Canet-en-Roussillon, reaching Catana’s facilities at a ‘phenomenal’ speed.
The buildings were used for assembly of the BALI 5.8 and the CATANA OC 50 and their loss has severely impacted the site’s production capacity.
Delivery of boats
The polyester parts manufacturing building, along with all the moulds, has been preserved, in addition to four small, semi-rigid secondary buildings.
Less than a week after the fire, initial teams were able to return to the site to finish preparing the delivery of boats that had come off the assembly lines and been kept intact.
In the coming weeks, the Group will concentrate on the decontamination and deconstruction of the damaged buildings.
In addition, the Group is searching for solutions to best compensate for the disappearance of the assembly lines and regain a production capacity of the two model lines as well as the space to build the first prototype of the BALI 7.0 in 2027.
In a statement, the Group has said the loss will have a negligible impact on the 2025-2026 accounts, and business interruption insurance coverage will protect the Group from major impacts in 2026-2027.
The Group’s insurance for both material damages and business interruption losses is allowing it to continue paying salaries to employees during the enforced temporary layoff period.
Resumption of production
Reconstruction is not possible on the site of the destroyed buildings as this would mean producing nothing during the period of building construction, which is not commercially desirable.
The Group is aiming at a resumption of production as soon as possible based on the preserved buildings, supplemented if necessary by other temporary buildings, to avoid a lost year on the models concerned.
Instead, Catana is aiming to resume construction of the models in the SPL2 area of Canet-en-Roussillon where it had already decided to build a new factory, subject to state approvals.
The Group is continuing the deployment of its plan with the launch of its new YOT 53 inboard motor catamaran YOT 53, which will be presented for the first time at Cannes in September.
Strength of family businesses
Construction of the BALI 7.0, which will mark the Group’s entry into the large sailing yacht segment, is still scheduled for the beginning of 2027 with a target commercial launch at the Cannes 2027 show.
“Life isn’t always smooth sailing; we’ve always known this, accepted it, and generally coped well throughout our history, where challenges have tended to strengthen us rather than weaken us,” said Aurélien Poncin, chairman and CEO of the Group.
“The devastating fire of July 2nd was a severe blow, but it hasn’t dampened our energy; quite the contrary, as evidenced by the internal mobilisation deployed over the past few days, which demonstrates once again the strength of family businesses.”
He continued: “Certainly, the market has been very difficult for the past four years, but this has never called into question the strength of our business model, nor the impact of our products and their innovations, as evidenced by the success of all our new releases.”
