Business and sustainability

SMEs, how a company's creditworthiness is assessed today

The soundness of a company depends not only on its economic performance but also on its ability to adapt to unforeseen events

by Daniela Russo

1 June 2026

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Risk management
Access to credit
The Esg ecosystem
Data Collection and Use
The check list

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

In recent years, the concept of business soundness has been changing profoundly. Whereas in the past, economic-financial analysis was the main yardstick for evaluation by the banking system and investors, today the perimeter has expanded significantly. The increasing frequency of extreme weather phenomena, disruptions in supply chains, geopolitical tensions and regulatory developments have made it clear that operational resilience, i.e. the ability to adapt to and recover from unforeseen events, has become a central component of a company's creditworthiness.

"ESG factors, together with operational and insurance risks, are progressively entering the credit assessment framework," says Lidia Menduti, Director of PwC. The new European guidelines are in fact pushing banks and intermediaries to consider not only the economic performance of companies, but also their ability to prevent and manage potentially critical events: operational disruptions, catastrophic events, cyber vulnerability, governance and business continuity". For micro and small enterprises, this step represents a cultural change before a regulatory one.

LA RESILIENZA AZIENDALE INIZIA AD AVERE UN PREZZO

Analisi condotta su 816 operazioni intermediate dal gruppo Nsa nel 2025 su canali bancari digitali specializzati nel credito alle Pmi

Risk Management

Catastrophic events in recent years have generated economic damage amounting to tens of billions of euros in Europe, with a particularly strong impact on the fabric of small and medium-sized enterprises. Direct damage, however, is only part of the problem: the real critical issue is often business interruption and the resulting financial strain.

Risk management can no longer be considered an ancillary or merely insurance-related issue. Instead, it becomes a strategic factor that affects the cost of capital, access to credit, participation in public tenders and the company's overall credibility. Business valuation therefore takes on an increasingly multidisciplinary aspect.

As emerges from the analysis conducted by the NSA Group's sti office, the presence of elements linked to risk management, insurance protection and ESG structuring enables companies to obtain better credit terms, particularly in terms of the spread applied, as shown in the figures in the charts opposite.

Access to credit

"Banks are progressively integrating assessments of balance sheets and business plans with evidence on the company's ability to manage sustainability, climate risk, governance and IT security,' Lidia Menduti continues. 'Compliance with regulatory requirements is a further element to be considered for access to credit and the market, influencing, in some cases, the company's level of competitiveness.

In parallel, ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) criteria are playing an increasingly prominent role in risk assessment models. Banks are progressively integrating environmental and governance indicators into their internal rating systems, while investors and stakeholders are demanding greater transparency and measurability of non-financial performance.

The Esg ecosystem

ESG can no longer be interpreted solely as a reputational issue or as a formal compliance reserved for large companies. Increasingly, it becomes a tool through which the financial system measures the readability of the company, the quality of governance and the ability to manage risk in the medium to long term. 'The central point is not to produce ESG documents,' says Luca Cappuccio, commercial director of ALA Finanza Agevolata, 'but to make the company more comprehensible and readable for banks, stakeholders and the market. For SMEs, the issue is no longer just about sustainability in the ethical sense. It is about the ability to demonstrate solidity, organisation and continuity over time. In other words: the company's financeability'. Banks no longer look only at balance sheet numbers. "The balance sheet describes past results," Cappuccio explains, "while ESG issues help to understand whether a company will be able to withstand future risks: rising energy costs, supply chain instability, regulatory changes, organisational difficulties or reputational problems. This is why sustainability is increasingly becoming a financial issue'. Esg data enable a more complete measurement of a company's prospective soundness.

Data Collection and Use

Among the main challenges for companies is the collection and use of data that potentially strengthens dialogue with the market and integration into decision-making processes. "We need to move from a logic of fragmented data collection," emphasises Lidia Menduti, "to a structured governance in which ESG information increasingly becomes an integral part of the company's information infrastructure. A risk management capacity that can only improve over time through the leverage of ESG factors. "From the analysis of the data on the release of the ESG ratings issued by Ala," adds Cappuccio, "there is a high percentage of rating renewals, equal to 87%, which denotes how companies have gained a direct and tangible advantage, particularly in their relations with banks and other interlocutors along the value chain. Of these, some 44% have taken steps to improve their rating over the years. Finally, I would like to point out that 66.7 per cent of the companies that drew up their Sustainability Report during 2025 still maintained their ESG rating in the process".

Companies must therefore be accompanied on paths of gradual risk structuring, organisation of ESG data and insurance protection, with the aim of strengthening their solidity, credibility and ability to access the financial system over time.

The check list

What do SMEs actually have to do to remain financeable? The most common mistake is to think that tackling EGMs means producing complex documents or immediately supporting high investments. In reality, the first step for an SME is much more concrete: becoming an organised, readable and measurable company. Above all, banks and investors are looking for companies capable of producing reliable data and demonstrating control over their processes. For this, SMEs should start with some fundamental activities.

1) Organising corporate data

Many companies possess important information but do not collect it in a structured way. Energy consumption, operating costs, waste management, data on personnel, suppliers, safety or production continuity are increasingly required by the financial system and supply chains.The first step is therefore to create simple but reliable data collection and monitoring systems.

2) Strengthening governance and processes

One of the most observed factors concerns the organisational capacity of the enterprise. SMEs must start by defining internal procedures, clear responsibilities and management control tools. This is not only about compliance, but also about risk management capacity. A company that plans, monitors and documents is perceived as more stable and less vulnerable.

3) Assessing supply chain risks

Production chains are increasingly transferring ESG obligations also to suppliers. Therefore, SMEs must begin to understand where operational fragilities exist: dependence on a few customers, critical suppliers, energy exposure, environmental issues or difficulties in production continuity. Sustainability, in this sense, increasingly coincides with business resilience.

4) Integrating sustainability and strategy

For many companies, ESG is still approached as a separate issue from business. In reality, the market is rewarding companies that manage to turn sustainability and organisation into a competitive advantage. Waste reduction, energy efficiency, cost control, staff training and process quality not only improve corporate image: they also improve margins, reliability and creditworthiness.