Vespa maker Piaggio upbeat on 2023 after record results last year

(Reuters) – Italian motorbike and scooter maker Piaggio said on Thursday it was confident about its 2023 targets despite a challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical backdrop, after posting record results last year.

The producer of the iconic Vespa scooters posted a full-year net profit of 84.9 million euros ($90.22 million), beating the 79.9-million-euro analysts’ forecast provided by Refinitiv SmartEstimate, and up 41.4% from a year earlier.

With revenues of more than 2 billion euros, “the group ended 2022 with its best results ever, setting new records for all indicators”, Chairman and Chief Executive Roberto Colaninno said. “The geopolitical and macroeconomic situation was and remains complicated, but we are confident and optimistic about 2023”, he added.

Piaggio proposed to pay a final dividend of 0.10 euro per share for a total of 0.185 euro per share in 2022.

($1 = 0.9410 euros)

(Reporting by Carlo Giovanni Boffa, editing by Gianluca Semeraro)