Limited companies are set to see their revenue and turnover continue to grow from 2025 onwards
The National Foundation of Chartered Accountants’ Financial Statements Observatory has published its report; revenue rose by 1.9 per cent in the South and by 1.7 per cent in the Centre, whilst it fell in the North
The turnover of limited companies – which accounts for 75 per cent of the total turnover of Italian businesses – is growing once again. This is according to the document ‘2024 Financial Statements and 2025–2026–2027 Turnover Estimates”, compiled by the Financial Statements Observatory of the National Foundation of Chartered Accountants and published on 31 July. According to the Observatory, with the double-digit growth of the post-Covid two-year period now a thing of the past (+25.5% in 2021 and +26.1% in 2022), companies are consolidating their financial statements, managing to achieve significant improvements in their economic and financial performance.
The 2024 financial statements
Based on the 2024 financial statements of nearly 600,000 limited companies with a turnover of between 100,000 and one billion euros, the picture is positive, particularly when looking at balance sheet and financial indicators: the capitalisation ratio rose from 45.3 per cent to 46.8 per cent, whilst debt fell from 48.2 per cent to 46.7 per cent of total assets. One sore point is the decline in the proportion of companies reporting a profit at the end of the financial year, which fell from 86.1 per cent to 84 per cent.
Financial expenses remained stable, standing at 1.5 per cent of turnover and rising from 17.3 per cent to 17.6 per cent of EBITDA. By contrast, tax liabilities rose by 2.2 per cent, reflecting a 0.4 per cent decrease in tax liabilities due within the financial year and a 19.1 per cent increase in tax liabilities due beyond the financial year.
At a regional level the South recorded the best performance, with revenue – which grew by 0.2% overall – rising by 1.9%, followed by the Centre with +1.7%; the North, by contrast, recorded a decline of 0.5 per cent in the North-West and 0.8 per cent in the North-East.
Revenue is growing most among the largest companies (+2.2 per cent), followed by medium-sized firms (+0.6 per cent); the trend is, however, negative among micro-enterprises (-3.5%) and small enterprises (-0.3%); the latter, however, account for the highest proportion – 90.1 per cent – of companies making a profit.
