The Mediobanca Research Area has analysed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 1H 2020 results of large multinationals and of industrials and service companies listed on the FTSE MIB Index

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on the real economy in the first half of 2020, in Italy as in the rest of the world. This is the picture to emerge from the Mediobanca Research Area’s survey of the financial statements of over 150 industrial multinationals with annual turnover in excess of €3bn, and of 25 industrial and service companies included in the FTSE MIB index. Total sales posted by the over 150 industrial multinationals have decreased by 6.6% compared to 1H 2019. The only sectors which recorded increases in sales were software/internet (“WebSoft”, up 17.6%), large-scale distribution (up 9.6%), driven by e-commerce, and electronics (up 5.6%), helped by the global increase in digitalization. As for the FTSE MIB, an aggregate €50bn in revenues were lost in the first six months (total sales were 25.3% lower than in 1H 2019), and €42bn in market capitalization (down 11.2%), despite the recovery in 2Q. The full study is available for download at www.mbres.it.