Among bankers and politicians (certainly predominant categories), the protagonists of the real economy that still awaits the benefits of Mario Draghi's acclaimed moves, and the consequent reforms that now belong to politics "in order not to waste" stand out at the Ambrosetti workshop in Cernobbio the injection of confidence (and money) from the president of the ECB. Even if you are, like Ferruccio Ferragamo, entrepreneurs of the "made in Italy" and moreover in sectors - such as luxury and fashion - that have not known the crisis or that in the worst case scenario are already overcoming it. "Europe must not go on automatic pilot", says the president of the Florentine group who has just published a half-year report with revenues growing in the first part of 2014 by 6% to 659 million euros, while net profits fell by 6% (but without considering the extraordinary capital gain of a year ago, there is an increase of 10%).
The growth also concerned the feared second quarter, when the slowdown of the Chinese economy (which represents, together with the United States, Ferragamo's main market, and which in any case continues to grow above 7%, a threshold considered decisive by many analysts) it suggested possible repercussions which in fact worried investors a lot. So much so that in Piazza Affari the Florentine fashion house has lost 11% in the last 12 months, but in the last month it has recovered with a leap of 17% which is bringing it closer to the threshold of 28 euros per share. And the outlook for the accounts at the end of 2014, barring market disturbances, “is for further growth. In the first half, however, we recorded performances above the average of our competitors". Even in Japan, which was also the only country to report a contraction in turnover (-4%), however widely expected after the increase in the consumption tax, which started last April.
"We are neither concerned by the slowdown in China, which remains a highly competitive market for us, nor by the situation in Russia: at the moment everything remains as before for us, we have not taken sides on the issue", says the number one of the group that produces 100% of the line in Italy (halfway between Tuscany, where the company was founded and Campania, where the family originates), where, however, it sells only 10%, in the presence of 90% destined for export (data higher than the average of Italian companies), which will therefore benefit from Draghi's move, given that the weakening of the euro will benefit many companies in the eurozone present on non-EU markets. "Draghi was brilliant", observes Ferragamo - also seraphic on Russia, where clothing giants such as Adidas have already been forced to drastically reduce their targets - in the wake of the avalanche of compliments that the number one of the ECB received from the audience of Cernobbio.
Audience that Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, a fellow citizen of the Ferragamo family, has so to speak snubbed but from which he instead receives approval and encouragement in return. “I am an admirer of Renzi – confirms Ferruccio Ferragamo -, who governed well in Florence, a difficult city, and with whom I agree on everything he is proposing to do even as prime minister: we just have to hope that he does Really". Florence, a very small center for someone used to working "in over 100 markets" from all over the world, which is enough for him to stay big but which will not make him give up the dream of an Italy that becomes a protagonist again. “Continuing to produce here, when it would cost much less to do it elsewhere, is a form of respect for Italian workers, who have allowed us to get where we are over the decades. Made in Italy is not just a slogan but for us it is a second brand, a guarantee of quality”.
Draghi is not enough, therefore, now it's Renzi's turn. Because if it is true that one can live on China (“and also on the United States – Ferragamo is keen to remind us – while among the emerging ones I point out Mexico”), it is also true that one cannot fail to live on Italy. What would he do if he were in the premier's place? “Absolute priority to young people is the first thing that comes to mind. And then a reduction in public spending”.
