Sanlorenzo took EUR 496.4 million of new yacht orders in the first half of 2026, up 18.3% on the same period last year. Over the same six months it recognised EUR 471.3 million of revenue from new yachts, up 3.8%. The listed Italian builder is selling boats considerably faster than it is delivering them, and the gap between those two numbers is the most useful thing in its half year report.
The figures come from the consolidated half-year results approved by the board on 3 September 2026 at Ameglia, near La Spezia, and published the same day. Sanlorenzo puts its first-half book-to-bill ratio at roughly 1.05x, meaning new orders more than covered the revenue booked in the period. Order backlog closed the half at EUR 1,498.9 million, up 4.1%, of which the company says 89% relates to orders sold to final clients rather than to dealers holding stock.
Where the orders are coming from
The growth is not spread evenly across the range, and that is the point.
The Superyacht Division, which builds the largest boats in the group, lifted revenue 12.4% to EUR 154.1 million and now accounts for 32.7% of group revenue, up from 30.2% a year earlier. The Yacht Division grew 3.1% to EUR 232.8 million. Below that, the picture flattens and then turns negative. Bluegame, which covers boats under 24 metres, was broadly stable at EUR 43.6 million, and Sanlorenzo describes that segment of the market as more challenging. Nautor Swan, the sailing brand, fell 13.9% to EUR 40.9 million.
So a builder with four brands grew its top end by double digits, held its middle, and shrank at the bottom and in sail. Chairman and chief executive Massimo Perotti framed the strategy in the release as "prioritising value over volumes", and pointed to resilience in what he called the most exclusive segments of the market.
Selling Faster Than It Is Delivering
Sanlorenzo's first half of 2026, against the first half of 2025. Order intake is what buyers committed to in the period. Revenue is what was recognised on boats sold years earlier.
The growth sits at the top of the range
Net revenue from new yachts by division, first half of 2026.
| Division | Revenue | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Superyacht | EUR 154.1m, 32.7% of group | up 12.4% |
| Yacht | EUR 232.8m | up 3.1% |
| Bluegame, boats under 24 metres | EUR 43.6m | broadly stable |
| Nautor Swan, sail | EUR 40.9m | down 13.9% |
Three of four regions grew more than 20%
Europe faced a high comparison base in the first half of 2025 and remains the largest market.
| Region | Revenue | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Americas | EUR 129.0m, 27.4% of total | up 35.4% |
| APAC | EUR 73.9m, 15.7% of total | up 35.8% |
| Middle East and Africa | EUR 45.8m | up 22.7% |
| Europe | 47.2% of total | down 16.6% |
Source: Sanlorenzo S.p.A., H1 2026 consolidated results, approved by the board on 3 September 2026 and published the same day. Order backlog at 30 June 2026 stood at EUR 1,498.9m, up 4.1%, of which 89% relates to orders sold to final clients.
The geographic split moved in the same direction. The Americas grew 35.4% to EUR 129.0 million, APAC grew 35.8% to EUR 73.9 million, and the Middle East and Africa region grew 22.7% to EUR 45.8 million. Europe, still the largest market at 47.2% of revenue, fell 16.6% against what the company describes as a particularly high comparison base in the first half of 2025. Three of four principal regions grew more than 20%, and the one that shrank is the one that was already saturated.
An order book is a forward statement
Delivered revenue tells you what a shipyard sold two or three years ago. Order intake tells you what buyers are committing to now, years before a hull is finished and paid for in full. That is why the 18.3% intake figure carries more information than the 3.8% revenue figure, and why the composition of the backlog matters as much as its size.
Of the EUR 1,498.9 million on the books at 30 June, EUR 831.7 million relates to 2026 and covers 83% of the midpoint of the company's full-year revenue guidance. The remaining EUR 667.2 million relates to later years. Net backlog, the portion still to be recognised, stood at EUR 1,027.6 million, which Sanlorenzo describes as roughly a full year of contracted future revenue.
Margins held while all this happened. EBITDA rose 3.7% to EUR 83.5 million on a stable 17.7% margin, EBIT rose 3.9% to EUR 62.2 million, and group net profit rose 5.4% to EUR 49.1 million, a 10.4% margin. Cash generation improved sharply: operating cash flow of EUR 96.5 million against EUR 23.6 million a year earlier, and free cash flow of EUR 80.2 million against EUR 7.5 million. The net cash position reached EUR 49.4 million despite EUR 37.0 million of dividends paid during the half.
The same shape, across four asset classes
The pattern in these results is not confined to one Italian yard, and readers of this title have now seen it repeatedly in 2026.
In the brokerage market for used boats, a different data set entirely, AVNET reported in August that fewer superyachts changed hands in the first half while total spending rose. At the Monterey auctions the same month, collector car sales set a $755.6 million record on flat volume. In business aviation, order books reached a record $66.8 billion at the end of the second quarter, up 20.4% year over year.
Four hard asset markets, four sets of books, one shape: money concentrating at the top of the range while the volume beneath it goes sideways or declines. Sanlorenzo's contribution to that picture is the cleanest of the four, because it is an audited order book from a single listed manufacturer rather than an aggregate of transactions. A buyer who signs for a 40 metre boat in June 2026 is making a statement about 2028 and 2029.
What to watch next
Sanlorenzo confirmed its 2026 guidance in full: new yacht revenue of EUR 980 million to EUR 1,020 million, EBITDA of EUR 180 million to EUR 192 million, and group net profit of EUR 108 million to EUR 114 million. It also confirmed the targets of the 2026 to 2028 business plan presented in Venice in May under the name Tomorrow's Timeless.
Two events will test the read. The autumn show season, which runs through Cannes in September and the Monaco Yacht Show from 23 to 26 September, is where the next tranche of orders is written and where the company says it will unveil new products. The nine-month figures follow in November. If order intake keeps outrunning revenue through both, the concentration story stops being a half-year observation and starts being the structure of the market.