In vino veritas, but also profits. According to a survey by the Mediobanca study centre, since January 2001 the world stock market index for the wine sector grew by 522%, well above the world stock exchanges, which recorded a +121%.
The success of these titles is global, yet the differences between the various countries are not lacking. In North America wine made the national stock market almost six times (+566%), while in Australia the difference was 88% and in France by 84,8%. Bad instead China e Chile, which recorded performances of -66,2% and -38,2% respectively.
The performance of the wine was also disappointing Business Square. It is true, the IPOs of IWB and Masi have only taken place in recent years, so the observation period is shorter, but today both securities are traded below the offering price, with a total capitalization of around 200 million .
Mediobanca analysts have also calculated how much they could be worth the major Italian wine companies if they decide to land on the list. The equity capital of the 90 private Italian wineries amounts to approximately 2,75 billion euros. On the basis of the Stock Exchange multiples of the companies listed on international markets, the market value can be roughly estimated at 4,4 billion, with a "premium" on the book value of around 60%.
But beyond the financial aspect, in terms of economic results the growth of the Italian wine sector travels at double speed compared to that of the food sector as a whole. In 2016, the turnover of the wineries recorded an increase of 6% compared to 2015. A figure which, if on the one hand is lower than that recorded by the entire Italian manufacturing (+9,3%), on the other is clearly better than that of the food industry (+2,9%).
They are driving sales both the foreign market (+6,6%) and the domestic one (+5,3%), which both record the best growth since 2012. In particular, sparkling wines mark the greatest development in terms of turnover (+13,6%, the maximum for the period), with domestic demand (+14,1%) exceeding that across the border (+13%). The non-sparkling wine sector was positive, but less dynamic (+4,4% overall, +5,6% abroad).
The positive results are reflected in the expectations for 2017, with 90,1% of companies expecting not to suffer a drop in sales, even if the most confident, i.e. those who expect sales growth of more than 10%, are only 17,3%. As regards the level of employment, in 2016 employees were substantially stable (+0,4%) while material investments remained lively, up by +6,6% on 2015.
The Mediobanca study also shows that the major wine producers in Italy are cooperatives. In 2016 Cantine Riunite-GIV, with a turnover of 566 million euros (+3,6% on 2015), confirmed itself as the largest Italian group. The Caviro cooperative from Emilia follows, with 304 million. The first of the private ones is Palazzo Antinori with 218 million (+4,5%). Casa Vinicola Zonin stable in fourth position, with 193 million (+5,1%), while the Trentino coop Cavit grows significantly (+6,7%) which, with its 178 million, gains two positions to become fifth.
In general, there are seven companies that in 2016 achieved a turnover growth of more than 10%: the record once again goes to the Treviso cooperative The Brand, which increases from 75 to 101 million (+33,9%), followed by Santa Margherita (+32,9%). Among the other companies, good performances by Vivo Cantine (+25,4%), Villa Sandi (+20,7%), Lunelli (+13,4%), Mionetto (+11,3%) and Cantina Sociale Cooperativa of Soave (+10,3%).
Many wineries are increasingly pursuing internationalization and, among the 30 major wine producers, 19 companies make over 50% of their sales abroad. Botter won the gold medal, achieving 96,9% of 2016 turnover beyond national borders, followed by Ruffino (93,5%), Fratelli Martini (89,7%) and Zonin (85,8%).
Looking at profitability, the top performers in 2016 are Frescobaldi (profit on turnover at 22,5%), Santa Margherita (21,3%), Palazzo Antinori (21%), Ruffino (16,7%) and Masi Agricola (9,3%). Only Fratelli Gancia, among the large companies that communicated the data, has a negative profitability (-4,9%).
