There are 1423 companies in Italy that have the requisites to issue minibonds, 215 in Emilia-Romagna alone, of which 45, however, have excess liquidity. This is the assessment of Prometeia, which analyzed a sample of 66 small and medium-sized enterprises, x-raying their characteristics and balance sheets. This was discussed today in Bologna on the occasion of a meeting between businesses and investors, dedicated to new "zero kilometer" investment opportunities, the first of a series of events that will touch various Italian cities, organized by the research center, with Borsa Italiana and Confindustria.
“It is useless to provide illusory numbers – says the vice president of Prometeia Giuseppe Lusignani – we have only selected companies that meet very stringent requirements. There aren't many, but not even a few, taking into account the fact that many other companies, on occasion, could embark on a serious journey to become credible. The proposal is new and we need to start off on the right foot”.
According to Prometeia, to have what it takes, companies must boast a turnover of between 10 million and 200 million euros, register growth rates of 5% per year (2009-2011) or in any case an increase of 5% above the average of the sector; an Ebitda higher than 7% and a debt/Ebitda ratio lower than 5; a capitalization of 35% and not have excess liquidity. In short, numbers that are not within the reach of all small and medium-sized Italian companies, if we consider that Emilia-Romagna alone has 470 companies which represent around 10% of the national system. Minibonds are for many, but not for everyone, because institutional investors need to be convinced that the game is worth the candle.
"The road is not easy - confirms Matteo Laterza CIO of Unipol Assicurazioni - if you consider that government bonds have highly competitive yields". The tool put in place works if it is reliable and yields and those entrepreneurs who want to access it must put themselves in this logic, to develop their company.
“A small recovery can be glimpsed – observes Lusignani – to seize it, however, investments in efficiency and innovation equal to 5% of volumes are needed, a share that brings us overall to around 50 billion a year. If we then want to keep up with what the Germans are doing, we must add one point and reach 60 billion a year”. How do you find resources? In view of the recovery, the banks could loosen the strings a bit, but there is little need to count on it, because from the advent of the euro to 2007, Italian banks have allocated more to loans than they have collected, up to 130% and today, burdened by heavy suffering, they are exposed to the ECB in a significant way and are unable to return what they have received.
Moral? There are new financial instruments and to exploit them we need to modernize the approach to business. “The crisis – suggests the vice president of Prometeia – must lead everyone to change their behaviour”. Borsa Italiana has developed various projects for SMEs, from Elite to Aim Italia. Emilia-Romagna on the other hand, used to working as a system, has one more idea: "let's think - says the president of the regional Confindustria - of territorial or supply chain bonds, where local institutions can also play an important role , financial ones, such as banking foundations, institutional investors, intermediaries and the business system, but also public entities such as the Region".
