Report on the Economy and Finance of the Industrial Districts: ready to restart

The image accompanying the News on the presentation of the 15th Annual Report on the Economic and Financial Evolution of District Enterprises depicts a man inside an industrial plant. The man is wearing overalls and a protective helmet and, while holding a tablet with one hand, is in the act of operating the buttons of some devices with the other.

Intesa Sanpaolo has presented the 15^th edition of its Annual Report on the industrial districts, drawn up by the Bank's Studies and Research Department in order to analyse the economic and financial evolution of district enterprises.

The Report shows the speed of the recovery of the districts after the slump in 2020, describes the actions taken to combat energy price increases and quantifies the effects of the energy crisis on the profit margins of companies.

Technology, innovation and human capital are among the key elements required to return to growth in 2024, along with the recovery of demand.

“The district enterprises have shown that they are particularly active in the digital field, the ecological transition and the investment in human capital.

“In the districts, it has been possible to maintain the links of the territory’s value chain with a development model in which medium to large enterprises, furnished with brands, patents and a flair for internationalisation, have pulled along the local SMEs of their supply chain.

“Intesa Sanpaolo contributed significantly to the success of this model with the Supply Chains Development Programme, which now involves 830 leading businesses and their suppliers. Through this Programme, small, strategic suppliers can bring their ratings up to those – usually higher – of their clients, with benefits for the quantity of credit and its cost.”

Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, Chairman of Intesa Sanpaolo

The highlights of the Report:

In 2022, there was an improved dynamic in the turnover of district enterprises (+16.7%) compared to manufacturing overall (+15.2%). The cumulative difference in the two years 2021-22 was equal to around 3.5%.
2022 was a record year for exports by district enterprises, touching €153 billion (around +20%, compared to 2019).
In 2023-24, nominal growth is forecast to be even higher than in manufacturing (+3.3% compared to + 0.9%), in a context of almost unchanged production costs.
Many enterprises are already active in the self-production of energy: energy bills paid to utility companies fell by a quarter between 2019 and 2022.
Enterprises with 4.0 investments can achieve higher EBITDA margins than others, especially the smallest enterprises (almost double).
Enterprises that have introduced corporate welfare plans enjoy greater productivity and growth (+15.1% compared to +11.6% between 2019 and 2021).
District enterprises with at least one person under the age of 40 on the Board grow more, are more innovative and are focused on environmental aspects (25.1% have environmental certificates compared to 9.7% of enterprises in which the Board is made up only of people aged over 65).

Here are the presentation slides of the "Economy and Finance of the Industrial Districts 2022” Report (Italian only).

Last updated 19 July 2023 at 15:04:00