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SOLGROUP a breath of life SOL GROUP PRESS RELEASE FIRST HALF 2021 RESULTS The Board of Directors has approved the First Half 2021 results . Consolidated Sales € 541.0 ml ( + 14.7 % vs 1H 2020 , € 471.8 ml ) EBITDA € 139.0 ml being 25.7 % on sales ( € 120.3 ml at 1H 2020 ) EBIT € 78.8 ml being 14.6 % on sales ( € 62.3 ml at 1H 2020 ) Net Profit € 50.4 ml ( 38.3 ml at 1H 2020 ) These are the highlights disclosed in the First Half 2021 results approved earlier today by the Board of Directors of SOL S.p.A. , a listed company on the Italian Stock Exchange that acts as holding company to an Italian multinational group , with more than 4,800 employees , involved in the area of technical gases and home - care assistance , operating in Europe , Turkey , Morocco , India and Brazil . The first half of 2021 was characterized , especially in the first months of the year , by the significant persistence of the spread of the COVID - 19 pandemic , which subsequently recorded , starting from the month of May , a strong slowdown in almost all countries , also thanks to the progressive increase in the vaccination rate of the populations . In this difficult context , however , there has been a vigorous recovery of many industrial activities which , on the contrary , especially in the second quarter of 2020 , had suffered a sharp slowdown due to the lock - down decided following the first wave of pandemic spread . The economic recovery scenario , also favoured by the stimulus measures adopted by the fiscal policies of advanced countries , was accompanied by significant increases in the prices of raw materials , both energy and metallurgical and chemical , with consequent increases in production costs and , in the last months of semester , including inflation . In the context highlighted , the Sol Group achieved a vigorous increase in sales of 14.7 % ( 11.4 % on a constant basis ) compared to the first half of 2020. The half - year result is positive both in Italy , where sales grew by 11.2 % , and abroad , where there was an increase of 17.3 % . In particular , the Technical Gas Division achieved sales of € 268.2 million , up by 30.3 % compared to the first half of 2020. The growth benefited from the recovery of industrial activities , as well as from the good performance of the hydroelectric and biotechnology sectors . Also relevant , especially in the first four months , is the contribution of the demand for medicinal oxygen and services for hospitals . The Home Care Division , in which the Group operates through Vivisol , achieved sales of € 272.8 million , with an increase of 2.6 % compared to the first half of 2020. The development of sales was conditioned , for almost the entire first half of the year , due to the persistent reduced activity of hospitals and laboratories , due to the pandemic : hospitals and laboratories are , in fact , the normal basin that feeds the growth in the number of new patients who must be treated at their respective homes .