turnover and exports grow. Gum, prosecco and Friulian wines at the top – Corriere.it

The great intuition of Giacomo Becattini, after more than 40 years, has proved to be much more than a theory. And he confirms that he can withstand the passage of time and black swans. The latest Intesa Sanpaolo report certifies it: in 2022, district businesses achieved better turnover (+16.7%) than those in manufacturing (+15.2%) while exports reached a new peak of 153 billion euros (+20% approximately compared to 2019), penetrating above all into the USA, France, Germany and Turkey. In fact, the president of Intesa Sanpaolo Gian Maria Gros-Pietro speaks of a rebound framework already made, because these companies have shown that they are capable of rebounding very well from the pandemic and also surviving this war. Profitability also strengthened: the gross operating margin in the Italian clusters rose to 7.7%, three tenths of a point more than in 2019. Despite a rapid recovery, however, the increased complexity of the macroeconomic context accentuated the gaps between who is more competitive and who is in the greatest difficulty: in fact, in most sectors, the share of companies with a negative EBITDA has increased (10.8%, it was 8.6% in 2019) and the incidence has risen of companies with unit margins higher than 20%.

In the fashion system, companies heavily involved in the luxury supply chain in 2021 showed a decidedly higher unit margin than that of marginal or non-continuous suppliers (9.4% compared to 7%). And the distance widened in the three-year period 2019-21. The sharp increase in costs, partly reflected in prices, affected the unit margin which, however, thanks to process efficiency improvements, self-consumption, government support, underwent a limited reduction of less than one percentage point.

Pay attention to the rises

There is a slowdown. A temporary slowdown, I believe even short-lived, caused by the fight against inflation, observed the president of Intesa Sanpaolo, Gian Maria Gros-Pietro. The largest central banks in the world – he added – are trying to prevent a self-perpetuating process of inflation from starting. Everyone wishes that they succeed in the difficult maneuver that is the soft landing, but we are beginning to see signs of a slowdown in inflation both in the United States and in Europe. So it’s time to start the maneuver to consider the need to graduate this fight against inflation through monetary tightening, because there is also the risk of excessive maneuvering which then creates deflation and deflation is also an ugly beast, which is then difficult to stop.

Winning features

So what makes, for example, the network of ceramics companies in Sassuolo or those of goldsmiths in Valenza successful compared to all the others? The strategic positioning is made up of quality, environmental and patent certifications, which give better results than those who do not have them, i.e. better turnover and better performance, explains Gregorio De Felice, chief economist of Intesa Sanpaolo. From an analysis of 423 companies located in the Triveneto, Emilia-Romagna and Marche regions, mostly active in district-intensive sectors such as Mechanics, Agro-food and Wood-furnishings, the best dynamics emerges among the 4.0 companies ‘Ebitda margin, which strengthened between 2019 and 2021. Then the investment in renewables and finally the partnership with leading companies, as is the case for fashion. Three trump cards that lead the Ca’ de Sass chief economist to estimate a nominal growth in turnover for 2023-24 that is even higher than that of manufacturing (+3.3% vs +0.9%), in a context of practically unchanged producer prices .

Gum, wine and the German comparison

Speaking of the race for innovation and competitiveness, according to De Felice we didn’t touch the ball after the great crisis of 2008, but now we have reversed the investment game with Germany. In Italy – reads the Intesa Sanpaolo dossier – investments went from -1.5% in the 2008-2016 period to +20.7% in the 2016-2022 period, while Germany went from +8.5% to +7 .5%. The same trend also for machinery costs, with Italy going from -10.8% to +25.3% and Germany going from -0.2% to +2.5%. Different dynamics, however, for investments in research and development with both countries decreasing (Italy from 20.2% to 12.6%, Germany from 26.4% to 14.2%). De Felice then explains that this trend occurs because in our country there are mainly domestic supply chains linked to Europe, while Germany’s problems derive from ties with Asia. Short supply chains guarantee stability compared to global supply chains, the shortest supply chains are precisely those of the districts, which are doing better. We also have a higher product diversification, and this allows us to seize more opportunities. In first place among the clusters for growth performance, profitability and capitalization is the rubber from Sebino Bergamasco, followed by Prosecco di Conegliano Valdobbiadene and then by wines and distillates from Friuli; interesting to note that among the first 25 districts, 5 are linked to the production of wines or spirits.