so in 10 years they have strengthened (but still few young people and women) – Corriere.it

If confirmation is needed, here it is from the data: Italian family businesses have overcome the Covid crisis better than the others. They have proved to be more solid in terms of profitability, better equipped. In general, they have strengthened over the last ten years. This is due both to the generational transition and to prudential management which has allowed them, in most cases, to retain resources to face the difficulties. The still incomplete transition to diversity, the representation of women, young people and people outside the family on boards of directors. Work for the next phase.

The research Aub

The 14th edition of the Aub Observatory (Aidaf, Unicredit, Bocconi) says it which, with the support of Borsa Italiana, the Angelini Foundation and the Milan Chamber of Commerce

monitors Italian family businesses with over 20 million in revenues. At a time when inflation is overflowing (+8.1% in December 2022 in Italy and +9.2% in the euro area) and opens the second crisis in three years after the Covid one (too high, we are determined to bring it back to 2% with all the necessary measures, Christine Lagarde, president of the ECB said on 19 January), the analysis is a basis for optimism for the Italian system, given that family businesses with revenues above 20 million account for 65% (11 thousand 635) of all homologous Italian companies, notes the research. Companies have modernized, entrepreneurial families are now more dynamic – says Francesco Casoli, president of Aidaf and Elica -. Italy is beginning to no longer bring up the rear.

The bills

Second the report, which will be presented at Bocconi on Monday 30 January And The Economics of Corriere della Sera anticipates, in 2021, Italian family businesses (8,589 groups analysed) had a 20% increase in revenues compared to 2020 with a growth index of 243 (made 100 in 2010), higher than that of non-family members (index 222). TO the revenues of the energy, construction and wholesale sectors rose the most in 2019-2021, followed by car sales. Among the regions, Marche and Lombardy are in the lead.

More profitability and jobs

Net profitability has also increased: for the companies in the sample, in 2021 it exceeded that of 2019 with a Roe (return on capital) that rose from 13% to 13.6% (against 11.7% in non-family companies). In the two years increased employment: +3.8% (+2.3% non-family businesses). And the level of debt has dropped: the ratio between the net financial position and the gross operating margin has dropped from 4.6 times to four. Family businesses with a problematic financial situation then decreased not only in the two-year period (24% in 2021 against 30% in 2019) but also in the ten years (they were 38%). Merit, of course, also of the government interventions to support credit, of the facilitation of bank loans for those who invest. It remains for the positive picture, more than for the rest of the companies.

Fast times

The times of overcoming the Covid crisis were faster than we expected, we came out of it better than we entered it – says Casoli -. We are now slipping back into a difficult moment due to the energy crisis, the shortage of raw materials, and inflation. But Italian family businesses are more ready than others to face it because they are strengthened. The Aub Observatory confirms that, in the two-year period 2021-22, Italy’s recovery was much faster than in past crises and that Italian family businesses have been the driving force of Made in Italy – says Massimiliano Mastalia, head of Wealth & large corporates UniCredit —. This dynamic also emerged from our observation point

.

The advisers

Even in the first half of 2022, for which the Observatory considers only listed family businesses, the trends are positive: +35% revenues from the first half of 2021 (compared to +31% of non-family listed companies), +8.2% employment (5.8%), +8.3% Roe (+0.9%) . And the ability to repay debt is above pre-Covid levelssays the research. Covid has made us understand that in times of great stress we can grow even if the economy shrinks – says Casoli -. We entrepreneurs have changed.

The crux of diversity

The crux of diversity remains: the acceptance of women, young people and non-family members on boards of directors. The results of the Observatory are four. 1) Only in 24.6% of the family businesses considered – one out of four – is there at least one director under the age of 40 (2020 data, it was 47% ten years earlier: an explanation given the aging of the population). 2) The threshold of 33% of women on the board, envisaged for listed companies by the Golfo Mosca law, is exceeded in the total sample in just over one out of three companies, 37.6%: an increase of not even three points in ten years (in 2010 it was 34.4%). 3) On the other hand, the share of those who have at least one member from outside the family on the board is growing (60.1% against 54.3%). 4) And in the vast majority (91.9%) of cases there are fewer than two directors over 75 years old.

The upcoming bill

These four points are satisfied all together only by 344 family groups out of the more than 8,000 analysed.

Few differences, if you can console, with France and Germany. To make up for the delay the drafts of the Aidaf bill are ready, which among other things calls for the presence of a director under the age of 40 on all boards.

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