The foreign activities of Italian construction companies grow strongly, after two years of relative stagnation. Overseas turnover recorded +2012% in 11,4 (compared to the previous year), compared to +0,9% in 2010 (again in relation to 2009) and +8,6% in 2011 (compared to 2010). This is what emerges from the «2013 Report on the presence of Italian construction companies in the world», presented today in Rome, to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by the president of ANCE, Paolo Buzzetti, and by the vice-president in charge of works abroad Giandomenico Ghella.
However, the data does not refer to all Italian companies, but to a sample of 36 large and medium-sized construction companies active abroad. The medium and small ones remain outside the aforementioned sample, which continue to work with difficulty, totally or mainly, for the Italian market. The report thus outlines an Italy traveling at two speeds.
The first is that of large companies that are increasingly strong in the most difficult and competitive markets, and no longer only, as a few years ago, in emerging countries. “The experience gained on the most difficult markets – claims Ance – those in which the risk is greater, has served to “conquer” the more selective and competitive ones”. In the period 2004-2012 foreign turnover increased from 2.955 to 8.754 million euros, i.e. it almost tripled (+196%), while revenues from works in Italy remained more or less stable, from 6.504 to 6.281 million (-3,4 .31%). All of the growth therefore took place abroad, whose share of turnover rose from 58 to 2012%. Furthermore, in 226 Italian companies managed to acquire as many as 12 new orders for a value of over 58,1 billion, making the total residual work in progress rise from 61,44 to XNUMX billion euro.
The second speed is that of SMEs which in 2012 saw a 16,5% drop in their foreign turnover. “It emerges – reads the report – that medium and medium-low range companies encounter difficulties in obtaining new jobs. Nine companies with a turnover of less than 250 million euros have not acquired new orders, while six have only one new contract".
In general, therefore, a large part of the expansion of foreign turnover is to be found in the largest class of companies (over 500 million euros), whose weight on the total turnover of the sample has risen from 75 to 85%. The relative weight of SMEs (up to 250 million), however, decreased: they went from 8,3% to 6%.
