The turnover of Italian wine 2018 is growing, more thanks to Italy than to export: Mediobanca shows

The wine sector has confirmed its health, despite some signs of difficulty. With sales up 7.5% in 2018 compared to 2017. An important growth, achieved, perhaps surprisingly, more thanks to the domestic market (+9.9%) than to exports (5.3%), in a year, the last one, which is expected to be the second most significant growth from 2013, with sales in the sector increased by 27% compared to 5 years ago (with +31.9% in exports and +22.4% of domestic turnover).
A significant result, for the wine of Italy, especially when compared with that of the manufacturing (-7.2%) and food industry (-4.6%). The “Survey on the wine sector 2019” of the Mediobanca Studies Area, which analyzed the performance of the 168 main Italian companies in the sector (with a turnover of more than 25 million euro in 2017), said it. And they also look with cautious optimism to 2019: 82.6% of the people interviewed expect not to suffer a fall in sales, 10.5% believe in an increase in turnover in double figures, but there is also a 17.5% that expects some decline in revenues.
The Mediobanca survey also shows that the greatest growth in turnover was recorded by cooperatives (+9.2% on 2017), led by the domestic market (+13.6%), while private companies grew by 6.7% (+7.0% abroad). Between the two macro types of wine, then, sparkling wines grew by 7.1% (thanks to +7.2% of exports), while still wines, stalled on foreign markets, scored, according to the survey, a surprising +7.6%, driven by +10.8% of domestic sales. Furthermore, the ratio of financial debt to equity (2017 figure) shows an overall solidity (69.4%), which for non-cooperative companies is 53.2%. Overall, Piedmontese companies beat the competition, especially in terms of income (8.6% compared to 6.6% nationally; 12.1% compared to 7.2%). The Veneto and Trentino regions are also doing well, above the national average. The Tuscan companies (roi and roe at 7.3%) are financially more solid (financial debts at 37% of equity against 69.4%), more efficient (labor costs per unit of product at 46.8% against 58%) and more suitable for export (63.6% against 52.4%).
The wine sector is a healthy sector made of many realities, which has its champions. And so, according to data from Mediobanca, at the top of turnover are two cooperative giants such as Cantine Riunite-Give (Italian Wine Group), with, 615 million euros (+3.1% over 2017), followed by Caviro, which increases by 8.6% to 330 million, and Antinori, which earns 4.5% to 230 million, the first non-cooperative group and n. 1 absolute for profitability, followed by Fratelli Martini (+14.7%, 220 million), which gains a position, from fifth to fourth, and barefoot Zonin1821 (+2.9%, 202 million). This was followed by Botter (+8.3% to 195 million), Cavit (+4.4%, 190 million euros), Mezzacorona (+1.9%, 188 million), Enoitalia (+7.6%, 182 million) and Santa Margherita (+4.6%, 177 million). In terms of profitability (ratio between profit and turnover), Antinori (25%) is at the top, ahead of Santa Margherita (17%), Frescobaldi (16.7%), Masi (11%), and again followed by Botter (9.1%), Ruffino (8.6%) and Mionetto (5.4%). In terms of export propensity, Botter remains at the top, with 95.4% of turnover developed on foreign markets, followed by Farnese (94.0%), Ruffino (93.0%), Fratelli Martini (90.0%), Zonin (85.6%), Mondodelvino (82.5%) and La Marca Vini e Spumanti (81.8%).