Fincantieri flipped to the black in 2016 thanks largely to the strength in its cruiseship and defence businesses, while the offshore sector continues to see weak demand.
The company reported EUR 60m ($64.6m) for last year compared to a full-year loss of EUR 252m in 2015 as revenue grew 6% to EUR 4.4bn.
Chief executive Giuseppe Bono says the Italian shipbuilder could begin paying a dividend starting from 2017 onwards as Fincantieri "has left behind the longest sector crisis on record."
Fincantieri highlighted contracts to build two passenger ships for Virgin Voyages and four for Norwegian Cruise lines. It also touted deals for Chinese-built cruiseships with Carnival and China State Shipbuilding.
Shipbuilding revenue was up 22% from a year ago at EUR 3.2bn. Offshore-related revenue was down 20% to EUR 960m.
The company reported total orderbook backlog exceeded EUR 24bn, compared to EUR 22bn in 2015. It said order intake during the year was EUR 6.5bn, compared to EUR 10bn in the prior year.
In volume terms, it delivered 26 vessels last year compared to 21 delivered in 2015. Vessels in its orderbook totalled 99 at the end of 2016 compared to 88 at the end of 2015.
