Medium-sized Italian companies at the top in Europe for productivity
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Faster than gazelles French, more performing than Mittelstand German. Even in this period of economic and geopolitical turbulence, Italian Mid Caps, i.e. medium-sized manufacturing companies, mostly family-run, are confirmed as the “hidden champions” of the national economy. A heritage to be preserved and valued given that, “in a historical period in which many countries are deindustrializing, Italy can still count on a short manufacturing chain that has few equals”, said Lorenzo Astolfi, Head of Mid Corporate at Mediobanca, yesterday opening the Mid Cap Conference 2023 organized by the group, dedicated to the sector.
“If we look at the productivity indicators, our medium-sized enterprises outperform the French and German ones by more than 20%,” Astolfi explained, quoting Eurostat data. The delay in productivity that Italy discounts compared to other European countries can therefore be attributed to the size classes at the extremes, large and micro companies. Also from the point of view of employment, the Italian Mid Caps have recorded a 40% increase in their workforce since 1996 (the best figure in Europe), while large companies have seen a 13% drop.
«Our Mid Caps arrive at this start of the year, characterized by great uncertainties, with a very good and solid state of health», Astolfi specified, and the evidence is in the analyzes contained in Mediobanca’s Outlook 2023 on Italy , published a few days ago and edited by Andrea Filtri and Javier Suarez. «We have estimated for the current year an outperformance of the medium-sized business sector compared to large companies – explains Alberto Nagel, CEO of the group -. Against a 9% drop in the total profits of the sample of businesses surveyed by Mediobanca in Italy, we expect a 3% growth for the medium-sized business sector». Encouraging prospects, which concern companies that have solid and flexible balance sheets and will therefore be able to invest to seize growth opportunities, linked to structural factors such as digital transformation, ecological transition and energy efficiency, also benefiting from the support of the Pnrr.
«The ecological transition is the most important challenge of the century – said Katia Da Ros, managing director of Inox and vice-president of Confindustria for the environment, sustainability and culture -. In an international scenario that sees environmental, social and economic sustainability as the most important condition for stable and lasting growth, our country already boasts significant results”. Another decisive factor in increasing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises is their digitization: “It is necessary to realize the extent of this opportunity, working at the national system level to bring digital technology closer and more accessible to companies”, commented Federico Leproux, CEO of TeamSystem. An example, according to Leproux, could be the extension of the incentives on Industry 4.0 also to the software and services component, while today they are linked only to the hardware component.
«In a complex macroeconomic scenario such as the one we are experiencing, digital can once again represent a strategic asset for companies in Italy – said Alberto Frasarin, Director of Google Customer Solutions, Italy -. Therefore, accelerating the digital transformation, for example through the integration of Artificial Intelligence solutions, allows not only to grasp the evolving demand, but also to increase the technological potential of one’s company. Choosing applications that are consistent with your type of business and with your business objectives simplifies processes, allows you to build a relationship with customers that can then be declined across all touchpoints, online and offline, and at the same time allows for more efficiency of corporate data”.
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