Press release

THE NUMBER OF ITALIAN SMEs HAS REBOUNDED AFTER A FIVE-YEAR SLUMP

ITALY HAS ABOUT 10,000 START-UPS AND INNOVATIVE SMEs BEYOND THOSE IDENTIFIED BY THE OFFICIAL REGISTERS

• SME REVENUE GROWTH SPED UP TO 3% IN 2015, FROM 1% IN ’14

• 20% DROP IN THE NUMBER OF SME BANKRUPTCIES FROM 2015 TO ’16

• NEW DOUBTFUL LOAN RATE FORECAST TO FALL FROM 4.8% IN 2015 TO 3.7% IN 2018, BUT STILL WELL ABOVE THE PRE-CRISIS LEVEL

• THE 16,000 START-UPS AND INNOVATIVE SMES IDENTIFIED, WHETHER REGISTERED AS SUCH OR NOT, GENERATE €26 BILLION IN REVENUE AND EMPLOY 150,000 WORKERS

• TRENTO IS THE BOOT’S “MOST INNOVATIVE” PROVINCE

Milan, 15 November 2016 – Cerved, the Italian leader in credit risk analysis and non-performing loan management, presented highlights of the Cerved 2016 SME Report today at the annual Osservitalia event. This annual publication provides detailed analysis of the financial well-being of Italian businesses classified as small and medium-sized enterprises