It was presented today, July 17, the twenty-fourth Acre Annual Report, which contains the aggregate data of the banking foundations referring to the 2018 financial statements.
"In 2018 the erratic nature of the markets led to a drastic decrease in the proceeds of the Foundations - he said Francesco Profumo, president of Acri –. Nonetheless, thanks to a shrewd policy of provisions implemented in previous years, the Foundations have kept the level of disbursements to the territories stable, which has actually grown to over one billion euros. Most of the resources went to welfare and culture. Taxes continued to absorb more than a third of the gross operating surplus”.
Going into the details of the report, last year, the total accounting assets of the Foundations adhering to ACRI amounted to 39,6 billion euros and represented 87% of the budget deficit. "Due to the negative performance of stock market prices - explains the Association in a note - the composition of assets, which at the same date amounted to 45,7 billion euros, decreased slightly compared to that recorded in 2017 (equal to 46,1 billion), being made up for 94,1% of financial assets and only for 4,9% of movable and immovable assets".
Down too the proceeds, down to 1,1 billion euro from 2,1 billion in 2017. In percentage terms, the figures show a drop of 48% caused by the negative trend of the markets seen throughout the year, but above all in the last quarter . A trend that also had repercussions on asset management, which fell by 201 million, and on the margins deriving from the direct management of financial instruments, which recorded a reduction of 477,1 million euro during the year.
Moving forward with the parameters, in 2018 gross profitability of Foundations' assets fell to 2,7% from 5,3% in 2017. As a result the operating surplus recorded a reduction of 61,1% from 1,477 billion to 574,7 million, with a decrease in its incidence on total income equal to 53,1%, compared to 70,7% in 2017.
The disbursement activity in 2018 it amounted to 1.024,6 million euros, an increase of 4,1% compared to the 984,6 million in 2017, which corresponds to a disbursement rate of 2,6% on the average assets of all the Foundations. A similar trend was also seen in the number of funded initiatives, which amounted to 20.153 interventions, up by 1,1%. "The aggregate of approved disbursements - reads the report - does not follow the same trend as the Surplus for the year, which decreased and amounted to 574,7 million euros, as the disbursement activity was supported by the use, in an anti-cyclical function, of the available funds to stabilize disbursements".
With regard to the distribution of donations, in 2018 it is still the Art, Activities and Cultural Heritage sector that absorbs the majority of resources, with 255,9 million euros (equal to 25% of the sums disbursed) and 7.378 interventions (corresponding to 36,6% of the total number ). This is followed by the Research and Development sector, which records disbursements for 140,5 million euros and 1.214 interventions (13,7% of the amounts and 6% of the number of initiatives) and the Voluntary, Philanthropy and Charity sector, which resources amounting to 129,8 million euros were allocated, financing 2.201 initiatives (equal, respectively, to 12,7% of the amounts and 10,9% of the number of interventions). The Social Assistance sector, although decreasing compared to 2017, with 115,5 million euros and 1.948 interventions (11,3% of the amounts and 9,7% of the interventions), constitutes the fourth sector of intervention, followed by 'Education, Instruction and Training, in fifth place in the ranking, with 100,4 million euros disbursed (9,8%) and 3.427 interventions (17%).
Also noteworthy is the Fund for the fight against child educational poverty, excluded from the previous ranking as it is considered a national project, which last year in terms of resources allocated accounted for 11,7% of total resolutions.
