(Finance) – From 1996 to today the medium-sized Italian manufacturing companies have gained an advantage of 34.1% compared to GDP, most of which developed since 2009. In comparison with the large Italian manufacturing companies, in the same period, the averages recorded better performances from many points of view: they obtained a growth of revenue more than double (+ 108.8% vs + 64.4%), centered on a greater increase in productivity (+ 53% vs + 38.6%) and better guaranteed remuneration of work (+ 62.4% vs + 57%). There was also a significant expansion of the employment basis (+ 39.8% vs -12.5%), which also allowed them to establish themselves internationally: their productivity is 21.5% higher than that of their German and French counterparts.
This is what emerges from the XXI Report dedicated to medium-sized Italian manufacturing companies from Unioncamere, Mediobanca Study Area and Tagliacarne Study Center. The survey covers the universe of medium-sized Italian manufacturing industrial enterprises, considering joint-stock companies as such that: have a workforce of between 50 and 499 units, a sales volume of no less than 17 and no more than 370 million euros, an autonomous ownership structure attributable to family control.
The relationship with foreign countries
A peculiar aspect of medium-sized enterprises concerns the fact that wealth and employment are mainly produced in Italy. 88.2% don’t have one production site abroad and only 3% realizes more than 50% of the output in foreign factories. The issue of re-shoring appears to be of little relevance, with 88.8% making use of foreign suppliers, obtaining on average 25% of its supplies. Furthermore, the share of sales destined abroad is equal to 43.2% of turnover.
Italian medium-sized manufacturing companies have attracted the attention of foreigners: today we would have about 210 more if these had not passed under the control of foreign shareholdersa quarter of which are Germans and French.
The burden of the taxman
The effective tax rate of medium-sized companies is now around 21.5% against 17.5% of large companies, but in the past the spread was even wider, over 8 points in 2011. If in the last decade medium-sized companies had had the same pressure of the large companies would have obtained more resources for 6.5 billion euros. In comparison with foreign competitors, our medium-sized enterprises feel disadvantaged precisely in terms of cost structure (50.5%), efficiency of the Public administration (30.2%) and the quality of the country’s infrastructure equipment (22%).
The generational shift
47.2% of medium-sized enterprises have solved the generational change while 17.4% are facing it, but have not finished the process. For 26.2% the issue is not on the agenda because the heirs are too young, but the remaining 9.2% is in objective difficulty having to face the lack of heirs, their excessive number or disagreements between shareholders. In summary, for 1 in 4 companies, the transition is either not completed or represents a real obstacle.
Medium-sized enterprises with problems of generational handover they will invest less in the three-year period 2022-24 in managerial training to innovate business models (38% vs 50% in the case of those without problems), less on process and organizational innovation (64% vs 71%) and in product and marketing innovation (47% vs 61%).
The push of green and digital
52% of the medium-sized companies that have invested in the Dual digital and ecological transition expects to exceed pre-Covid production levels in 2022. A share that drops to 35% in the case of those who have invested only in digital and 31% for companies that have focused only on the green, up to 21% where no investment has been made in this direction.