the experience of companies in Italy and abroad – Corriere.it

It won’t be a tsunami, but the tide is rising for Italian companies, which in the first quarter of this year are once again seeing an increase late payments: you need to equip yourself, selecting customers on the basis of creditworthiness, favoring digital payments and hedging against risks. Companies such as Vibac, Towa Pharmaceutical, Sammontana and Ruffino say so, who yesterday attended the Studio Pagamenti 2023 event: commercial payments between inflation and international instability organized by Cribis, a company of the Crif group, streamed on Corriere.it.

Alongside positive news, such as the recovery of exports, the alarm has emerged on the regularity of payments of the companies taken over by Cribis. Although punctual payments returned to around 41% of the total in 2022, in the first quarter of 2023 there was an increase in serious delays of more than 30 days, reaching 9.5%. As if to say that one out of ten companies is in a critical situation. Italy still shows an important difference compared to other European countries, especially with Germany -, notes Macro Preti, managing director of Cribis -. We find ourselves in a complicated scenario, between inflation that can impact production and the risk of a contraction in bank credit. And then there is the unknown default, with the bankruptcy rate which, on the rise in the last year, has reached 2.4 percent (public plus credit). We are at manageable values ​​and still below the pre-pandemic 3.5%, but attention must be kept high – warns Simone Mirani, general manager of Crif Ratings -, also because debt levels have grown and in some sectors , such as construction and agriculture, have exceeded the values ​​prior to the Covid emergency.

What’s good? The export trend, notes Alessandro Terluzzi, Sace’s chief economist. Exports rose by 20% in 2022 and by 13% in the first two months of 2023. In addition, there is a greater use of factoring, which represents 35% of short-term loans: it supports the liquidity of companies and allows stabilization of funding lines, said Ruxanda Valcu, vice president of Assifact. No red alert, therefore, but uncertainty, for now, prevails over a 2023 which requires companies to pay close attention to the cash desk. Caution is needed, says Preti.

The Entrepreneur’s View: Towa Pharmaceutical

Among the sectors in difficulty is the pharmaceutical one which, unlike popular belief, also suffered during the Covid. The companies in the sector, unless they were pharmaceutical companies that produced vaccines, buffers or hygiene devices, found themselves in difficulty – notes Marco Mamone, finance director B2C Europe Controlling of Towa Pharmaceutical -. The national health system has gone haywire and the prescriptions of traditional medicines have slowed down. Furthermore, it should also be considered that a not insignificant part of the drug supply chain begins its evolution from China. And, when Beijing began to close down, the whole supply chain experienced difficulties in sourcing. Difficulties that still continue today, also because the pharmaceutical industry is an energy-intensive industry, which has had to slow down production processes after the most recent events. Furthermore – he adds – we operate in a sector with fixed, regulated prices, in which it is not possible to transfer the inflationary pressure onto the final consumer. Of course, during Covid pharmacies collected a lot, but they are small businesses, with an average turnover of 1.2 million, which fall into the cluster of those more fragile subjects.

The entrepreneurs’ view: Sammontana

With reference to the worsening of payment delays, Francesco Poggesi, director of credits and contracts at Sammontana, explains how this trend has mainly concerned the hotel and restaurant sector. Large-scale distribution, where we have an average payment deferment of 60 days, has not recorded significant delays – he explains -. On the horeca channel (hotellerie-restaurant-caf, ed), however, the whole supply chain was blocked for some time. The difficulty was restarting after the pandemic, but today the positive thing is that in most cases we have returned to pre-pandemic levels, in terms of both turnover volumes and average collection times. The average data of payments in the horeca market of 20 days – he specifies -. However, there is an important part which is not well structured and which has reversed all the difficulties of the pandemic on the supplier, asking for deferrals of up to 90 days.

The entrepreneurs’ view: Ruffino

With reference to the foreign market, however, Damiano Belli, finance manager of Ruffino (the company that produces great Tuscan wines, as well as white wines and prosecco in the Veneto region, has a turnover of 130 million euros, 90% of which national borders, from North America to the rest of Europe), explains how the Nordic countries are the most punctual in payments: in recent years we have had requests to extend the payment terms to 60-90 days, but in the end the rules are respected . In Italy, on the other hand, where we are 69% exposed to the horeca sector, there is a maximum term of 60 days, which however is not respected. Separate discussion for the United States, where the company has to deal with the regulatory effect: we cannot sell directly to the final consumer, but we have to go through the American importer, who in turn then turns to local distributors, Belli points out.

The entrepreneurs’ view: Vibac group

Still with reference to the foreign market, Fabrizio Lazzari, European credit manager of the Vibac group, confirms the black shirt of the Latin countries of Europe and, speaking specifically of Italy, underlines the greater difficulties of the companies in the centre-south. But something is changing even in the most virtuous countries, with requests to increase payment terms also from the UK and France – explains Lazzari -. An interesting starting point, then, is that of Germany, which is notoriously one of the most virtuous states. In our case, however, there have always been requests for double payment conditions: 14 days, with a discount on the final price, or with longer terms. And if before the 14-day deadline was preferred, in the last period the preference goes to 60 days, always paying on time. as if they had discovered the value of deferment, he concludes.

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