PRESS RELEASE

INTESA SANPAOLO AT SALONE DEL MOBILE.MILANO: PROSPECTS FOR THE SUSTAINABLE AND CIRCULAR DEVELOPMENT OF THE HOME SYSTEM

·       Intesa Sanpaolo institutional partner of the Salone del Mobile.Milano: talk with industry companies today.

·       Over €4 billion already disbursed to SMEs for circular and sustainable economy projects.

·       For the Home System support of €1.5 billion out of €88 billion in the 2022-2025 Business Plan to foster the ecological transition and the green and circular economy.

·       According to Intesa Sanpaolo's Research and Studies Department, the most sustainability-sensitive furniture companies, identified by the environmental certifications obtained, created more jobs and performed better than those without certifications in the 2008-19 period, in terms of both revenue growth (median of +20.7% vs. -6.9%) and profitability (over the same period EBIDTA margin +0.6% vs. -0.7% for the rest).

Milan, 8 June 2022 – Intesa Sanpaolo, institutional partner of the Salone del Mobile.Milano 2022 and Italy's leading bank in financial support for the furniture sector and the Italian home system, hosted today, at the Design with Nature installation in Hall 15, the debate "Sustainability and Circularity of the Home System," with the participation of distinguished Italian furniture and design entrepreneurs for reflection on the development of the sector in light of the key themes of this year's Salone: the ecological transition and the circular economy from the perspective of sustainable development and the culture of material recovery.

The session was hosted by Daniele Pastore, general manager of Intesa Sanpaolo Casa, the Intesa Sanpaolo Group's real estate brokerage company, whose attention to the environment and to the spillover effects of building development on the community is one of the hallmarks of the innovative approach it takes to the Italian real estate market. This approach corresponds to a logic consistent with the inclinations of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, ranked at the top of the most important international sustainability indices.

The welcoming addresses were followed by a presentation on the economic scenario of the furniture sector by Stefania Trenti, Head of Industry Research Studies and Research at Intesa Sanpaolo. Next, Anna Roscio, Executive Director SME Sales & Marketing Intesa Sanpaolo, and architect Mario Cucinella, founder of Studio MCArchitects and curator of the Design with Nature installation as part of the 60th Salone del Mobile.Milano, spoke with entrepreneurs Gianni Caimi, CEO of Caimi Brevetti, one of Europe's leading design-oriented manufacturing companies, which has focused its scientific and technological research on the field of acoustic well-being, Daniele Lago, CEO and Head of Design at LAGO, a leader in the furniture and design sector with a strong focus on the environment and the reduction of waste and energy consumption, Tiziana Monterisi, CEO and co-founder of RiceHouse, an innovative Italian start-up that reuses rice waste to produce materials for the construction industry, and Andrea Tagliabue, vice chairman of Tabu, a leading Italian wood dyeing company that makes the circular economy a vocation and a daily commitment.

From the analysis of Intesa Sanpaolo's Research and Studies Department presented today, "being green pays off" not only because ESG factors improve business performance and are enablers for access to credit in a new sustainable, environmentally friendly and recovery culture-oriented perspective, but also because it will bring increasing social benefits through the creation of new jobs. To encourage the green transition of SMEs and facilitate the measurability of actions to pursue it, Intesa Sanpaolo has dedicated a credit of €1.5 billion to investments aimed at reducing environmental impact, designed to reward and enhance companies' sustainable business models, such as S-Loan Climate Change. In addition, the Bank, with its new Business Plan 2022-2025, confirms its leadership in ESG issues, allocating new credit of €88 billion to support the green economy and green transition of structured companies and SMEs.

Along these lines, the partnership between Intesa Sanpaolo and the Salone, which began in 2017, continues and is strengthened in the wake of a multi-year collaboration that sees the country's leading banking group committed to supporting the Italian furniture, furnishings and design sector with specific initiatives to aid companies from the entire supply chain in their journey to sustainable growth, in Italy and abroad.

Anna Roscio, Executive Director Sales & Marketing SMEs Intesa Sanpaolo: "There is a growing awareness among our SMEs of the issues of ecological transition and the need to measure the effectiveness of this process using shared criteria. In fact, according to data from our Research and Studies Department, furniture companies that obtained environmental certifications between 2008 and 2019 created more jobs and performed better in terms of revenue growth and profitability than those without certifications. Businesses recognise that being green pays off, not only because of easier access to credit, but also and especially by expediting virtuous projects of social and environmental sustainability. This generates positive impacts on the spread of new cultural and economic values related to material recovery and reuse, efficient waste management, and circularity of cycles. Our longstanding relationship with the Salone del Mobile gives us an important insight into this world: for the Home System, we have made available credit of €1.5 billion and incentive tools that enhance companies' ESG objectives. We have already disbursed more than €4 billion in S-Loan and circular economy loans to Italian SMEs.

 

Summary of the Study "The scenario of the furniture industry: challenges and opportunities for growth"

The study conducted and presented by Stefania Trenti, head of Industry Research Studies and Research at Intesa Sanpaolo, underscores how furniture is one of the most representative sectors of Italian industry in the world, which thanks to its exports achieved excellent results in 2021, leaping 8.3% over 2019 levels to reach €10.8 billion, driven by the U.S., French, German and Chinese markets, contributing to generate a balance of €8.3 billion. An excellent performance abroad dovetailed with robust momentum in domestic demand, sustained by incentives and an increased focus on the domestic environment following the pandemic, driving sales far above pre-Covid levels: +15.7% on 2019, outperforming the Italian manufacturing industry (+9.1%) and some major European competitors in the sector, such as Germany (+0.6%), France (+1.2%) and Spain (+1.5%). Early 2022 was characterized by a similarly brilliant performance, with growth in the first quarter in both sales at +13.9% and exports at +20.7%.

The outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine also changes the scenario for furniture companies: energy prices at their highest, exports to the Russian and Ukrainian markets worth 3.7% compared the manufacturing average of 2% in 2021 and, above all, demand for durable goods penalised both in Italy and in other European countries by uncertainty and energy bills, will lead to a slowdown in sales at constant prices. However, the expected growth in prices will allow the industry to record a new increase in sales at current prices (+13.1% on average for the year). In the absence of conflict escalation, the sector can resume good rates of development in the coming years with a projected growth rate of 2.7% per year on average at current prices in the period to 2026. To achieve these results, it will be crucial for the furniture sector to continue on the path of competitive strengthening, accelerating in the area of investments geared particularly toward: green transition and digitalisation, sales processes and functions, R&D and human capital training.

Also rewarding for the growth of the furniture industry will be investment in the circular economy, intensifying efforts in water and waste management and the use of recycled raw materials within production processes – policies that are already more prevalent among furniture companies than the manufacturing average (32.7% of furniture companies use secondary raw materials compared to 25.4% in manufacturing).

Being green pays off: according to an original analysis of a sample of more than 2,500 financial statements, over the 2008-2019 decade, furniture companies with a greater focus on sustainability, evidenced by obtaining environmental certifications, created employment (+10.2%) and performed better in terms of both revenue growth (median of +20.7% vs. -6.9% for non-certified companies) and EBIDTA margin (+0.6% between 2008 and 2019 vs. a 0.7% reduction for the rest).

Local supply chains, which are already typical of the structure of the sector, may also be instrumental in better ushering in the sustainability goals of the entire supply chain. Local supply arrangements could, among other things, intensify in the coming years as a reaction to the logistical difficulties encountered during the most critical phase of the pandemic. According to Intesa Sanpaolo's survey of its managers, just under 50% say they have observed an intention among furniture-buying client firms to step up procurement from suppliers located either in the same region or elsewhere in Italy.

Intesa Sanpaolo initiatives for “Home System” companies

Italy's leading bank has renewed its support for the Italian furniture, furnishings and design sector, to which it has allocated a credit ceiling of €1.5 billion for investment in reducing the environmental impact of companies and developing their activities abroad. The initiative is part of the broader collaboration with the FederlegnoArredo system and the Salone del Mobile.Milano and is part of Motore Italia, Intesa Sanpaolo's strategic programme launched in 2021 to support SMEs with new credit and liquidity.

Through solutions for SME liquidity, boosting investments, extraordinary finance and solutions to support companies in the digital and sustainable transition, Intesa Sanpaolo is further strengthening its role as a leading bank for ESG issues.

This is also the backdrop for the recent measures introduced for companies in light of the price increases and risks associated with the volatility of raw materials, as well as the new immediate initiatives to support energy-intensive SMEs and those with turnover deriving largely from exports.

In addition, to support companies that aspire to improve their sustainability profile and with the aim of accompanying them on a path of structural change, correlating economic decisions with their environmental and social impacts, Intesa Sanpaolo has devised an innovative financing incentive formula, i.e. S-Loans linked to ESG issues, such as: S-Loan Climate Change, dedicated to SMEs and mid-caps that intend to invest to counter the effects of climate change and reduce their environmental impact through projects for sustainable transformation; S-Loan ESG, aimed at sustainability investments in all environmental, social, and good governance issues; S-Loan Diversity, designed to foster gender equality; and, at the end of the year, S-Loan Agribusiness and S-Loan Tourism.

Overall, since the launch of S-Loan financing in 2020 and the establishment of the circular economy credit limit in 2019, Intesa Sanpaolo has disbursed more than €4 billion to SMEs, with more than 1,500 transactions closed.

Under its new 2022-2025 Business Plan, the Group will allocate €115 billion to the community and green transition by reserving new credit for the green economy, circular economy and ecological transition for €88 billion, with a strong focus on the ecological transition of structured companies and small and medium-sized enterprises.

In addition, between now and 2026, Intesa Sanpaolo plans medium-to-long-term disbursements of more than €410 billion, of which €120 billion will go to SMEs.

 

Press information

Intesa Sanpaolo

Media Relations Territorial Bank and Local Media

stampa@intesasanpaolo.com

https://group.intesasanpaolo.com/en/newsroom

 

About Intesa Sanpaolo

Intesa Sanpaolo is Italy’s leading banking group – serving families, businesses and the real economy – with a significant international presence. Intesa Sanpaolo’s distinctive business model makes it a European leader in Wealth Management, Protection & Advisory, highly focused on digital and fintech. An efficient and resilient Bank, it benefits from its wholly-owned product factories in asset management and insurance. The Group’s strong ESG commitment includes providing €115 billion in impact lending by 2025 to communities and for the green transition, and €500 million in contributions to support people most in need, positioning Intesa Sanpaolo as a world leader in terms of social impact. Intesa Sanpaolo is committed to Net Zero by 2030 for its own emissions and by 2050 for its loan and investment portfolios. An engaged patron of Italian culture, Intesa Sanpaolo has created its own network of museums, the Gallerie d’Italia, to host the bank's artistic heritage and as a venue for prestigious cultural projects.

News: group.intesasanpaolo.com/en/newsroom/news

Twitter: twitter.com/intesasanpaolo   

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/intesa-sanpaolo