Yacht maker The Italian Sea Group says extra‑budget costs due to internal bypass scheme (updated)
02/03/2026 15:26
Faces budget overruns on majority of contracts to build yachts
Has suspended some employees from duty
Was forced to delay wage payments by eight days
Talking to banks for funds, ship-owners to recover extra costs
Adds details in paragraphs 6-8
By Elisa Anzolin
MILAN, March 2 (Reuters) - Luxury yacht maker The Italian Sea Group (TISG) TISGR.MI said on Monday its recent cash needs reflected extra‑budget costs it bore after some of its staff set up a system to bypass spending controls on contracts.
TISG's brands include the fully-custom Admiral models and Perini Navi, which built the 56‑metre yacht Bayesian that sank off Sicily in August 2024.
The number and identity of those involved in the schemes, along with the size of the budget overruns, will be established through an internal audit TISG is conducting with adviser KPMG, which will deliver a first report within six weeks.
The initial analysis showed senior figures were involved, TISG said, adding that the board had issued disciplinary warnings to a number of employees, in some cases suspending them.
TISG said the out-of-budget costs sustained so far had drained its cash, forcing it to delay wage payments by eight days until it secured a 25-million-euro ($29 million) emergency loan from its majority shareholder and CEO Giovanni Costantino.
TISG workers staged a two-hour strike last week, prompting local authorities in Marina di Massa, the town in Tuscany's Versilia coastal region where TISG is based, to table talks with the CEO.
TISG's chairman and deputy chairman stepped down from the board on Thursday, with the company saying they had challenged the CEO with accusations that appeared at present to be unwarranted.
A third board member quit their seat on Friday over disagreements with the rest of the board about remedial steps.
TISG said it was talking to banks to address its cash issues, with a meeting scheduled over the coming days.
The CEO has also engaged with the owners of yachts currently under construction in an attempt to recover the extra contract costs, it said in a statement.
Shares in TISG fell 3.6% by 1508 GMT.
The shares have halved in value since February 18, when it first unveiled the emergency loan.
TISG reported a 10% drop in revenue in the first nine months of 2025, with a 15% decline in core profit.($1 = 0.8533 euros)
(Reporting by Elisa Anzolin; Editing by Valentina Za and Gavin Jones)
((elisa.anzolin@thomsonreuters.com; 0039 0266129692;))