Family businesses, in Italy, counted more than ten years ago. This was revealed by the tenth edition of the AUB Observatory (AIDAF-UniCredit-Bocconi University), which highlights how the importance of family capitalism in the Italian economy grows over time to number of companies with a turnover exceeding 50 million euros, employment and incidence on total turnover, while the results of family businesses have returned to pre-crisis levels.
There were 50 family businesses with a turnover of more than 4.251 million euros ten years ago and 4.597 (+8,1%) today, employed 1.471.674 people then and employ 1.885.771 now and their incidence on the total turnover of companies of their size increased from 32,5% to 37,5%, according to the data provided by the Milan-Monza-Brianza-Lodi Chamber of Commerce and processed by the Observatory, which analyzes the financial statements of all Italian family businesses and not just a sample.
If the revenue growth rate, in ten years, has decreased (from 9,3% to 6,5%), however, it remains higher than that of non-family businesses (dropped from 7,9% to 5,5% in the same period). Pre-crisis profitability has also been recovered and the solidity of family businesses has even increased. ROI went from 9,5% to 9,6% and ROE from 9,6% to 13,6%, while the ratio between the net financial position and Ebitda decreased from 5,5 to 5 and the debt ratio from 6,5 to 5.
Of the 4.597 companies surveyed this year, only 2.445 (53%) were in the same size class ten years ago. Of the 1.806 no longer present, 742 (17,4% of the population of ten years ago) entered liquidation or bankruptcy proceedings, 631 (14,8%) were the subject of mergers or acquisitions, 254 (6%) fell below the threshold of 50 million euros, while the others changed ownership. The sectors that have seen the greatest growth in family businesses are food and beverage; mechanics; chemical-pharmaceutical.
The provinces that have witnessed the strongest growth in the number of family businesses are Monza-Brianza (+62), Milan (+39), Vicenza (+32), Treviso and Naples (+22 for both). The greatest decline is that suffered by Modena (-21), Turin (-19), Padua (-12), Trento (-9), Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Prato and Alessandria (-8 for each of the three provinces). Finally, there is a progressive aging of family business leaders. In the ten years considered, leaders under the age of 50 decreased from 26,9% to 20,7%, while those over 70 increased from 17% to 25,5%.
“It shows in the report,” he says Jean Pierre Mustier, CEO of Unicredit, “an expansion both at a territorial and industrial level: in particular the development of new urban hubs and the identification of new sectors in which to invest. 85% of Italian small and medium-sized enterprises are family-owned. In Europe, they represent the backbone of the European economy, 60% of value added and 70% of employment. They adapt more easily to market changes. They have more creativity and flexibility.”
“Family businesses – he declares Carlo Edoardo Valli, vice president of the Chamber of Commerce of Milan Monza Brianza Lodi – are the basis of our economic system, a living example of the Italian and Milanese way of doing business in the world. Companies that withstood the crisis and which above all in our area are an example of innovation capacity and international openness but which are now facing the difficult challenge of generational turnover. The Chamber of Commerce with the Bocconi University collaborates in this research to monitor a characteristic phenomenon of our territory”.
"The Aub Observatory helps us understand the importance of rigorous governance so that family businesses can successfully project themselves into the future, to achieve a clear vision that values quality and innovation, based on solid and shared values", he added Elena Zambon, president of AIDA, while the comment by Barbara Lunghi, head of primary markets Italy of Borsa Italiana, was: “The Stock Exchange can play an important role in accompanying family businesses in the generational transitions, in attracting managerial talent and accelerating growth. Family businesses continue to represent 2/3 of the main list, combining the presence of family shareholders and domestic and international investors".
