The energy crisis is bringing businesses to their knees. 68 per cent of the cooperatives in which Cfi-Coopera Finanza Impresa has a stake, report a loss of profitability and for one out of three cooperatives the increase in costs leads to production at a loss. This is the result of an in-depth study carried out by CFIa financial company owned and supervised by the Ministry of Economic Development with the aim of promoting the creation and development of cooperative enterprises.
CFI submitted a questionnaire to companies to analyze the impact of the increases on production. The answers show that the energy costs incurred by companies, for the first 6 months of 2022, are almost equal to those of the entire previous year (21,126,000 euros for the first 6 months of 2022, 22,201,000 euros for the whole of 2021). Assuming that price growth stops at current levels, companies would find themselves at the end of 2022 with energy costs more than tripled compared to 2020 with a higher incidence compared to the value of production by as many as 6 percentage points (from 5.8 in 2020 to 11.8 in 2022).
The consequences are that 1 in 3 cooperatives (30%) are already taking steps to contain costs and find solutions; 1 in 3 cooperatives (30%) has not yet identified solutions and / or does not have the necessary financial resources. Furthermore, almost 2 out of 3 cooperatives (61%) are interested in evaluating investments for energy efficiency. For 1 in 5 cooperatives (21%), in addition to profitability problems, there are short-term financial difficulties such as: the need for liquidity to manage the past due or the need for guarantees for supply contracts.
“AND’ a very worrying situation – comments Mauro Frangi, president of CFI – which in many cases risks undermining the very future of businesses and the significant employment they generate. For more than 2 out of 3 companies, the price increases had a heavy impact on profitability. For half of them, the inability to pass the higher costs on to selling prices means working at a loss. And then, the consequent financial tensions weigh directly on at least 1 cooperative out of 5 that denounces additional liquidity needs to guarantee the payment of bills or requests for heavy guarantees from suppliers for the signing of contracts “.
“The board of directors of CFI – says the president Mauro Frangi – has put in place a plurality of actions to try to guarantee companies the necessary accompaniment and support in such a difficult phase. On the finance front, we will soon try to build specific responses by working in close synergy with Cooperfidi Italia and Banca Etica, entities of which we are members. We will make the financial instruments of the Marcora Law available to companies to guarantee direct support for the energy efficiency investments planned by the cooperatives “.
“And finally – he specifies – we will work to build stable and qualified technological and financial partnerships with specialized subjects to support companies in the planning and implementation of energy efficiency investments”.
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