Although the Italian economy has experienced a stagnation in 2018, it remains the third biggest in the Eurozone and is on the eighth place by nominal GDP in the world. Along with the EU countries, that are its main trade partners, Italy has close ties with the US, Switzerland and the UK, that recently abandoned the European Union.
Italy is the home country of the world's most prominent corporate players from different sectors, such as Generali, Eni, Pirelli or UniCredit, that influence the global economy and stay behind many of its modern rules and processes. We at Global Database conducted a vast research to provide you with a list of 15 largest public companies in Italy by sales in 2018, that could help you assess the situation on different markets and identify patterns by which the global economy is developing.
**All figures are in USD. M: Millions of USD, B: Billions of USD
**EUR was converted to USD using an average exchange rate of 0.92 EUR to 1 USD
1. Generali Group - $92.1B
Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. (further Generali) is an Italian insurance giant and one of the top insurance providers in the world, along with Zurich, Allianz and Axa. The key markets Generali is serving are located in Europe (mainly Western Europe) and Asia, including such economy leaders as Germany, Austria, France and Japan. The company finished 2018 with $92.1B in annual sales.
2. Eni - $89.4B
Eni S.p.A. (further Eni) is an international company, operating in 79 countries in the oil and gas industry. It managed to earn $89.4B in sales in 2018. Being among the global petroleum leaders, the so-called "Oil supermajors" such as Shell, BP and Total, Eni managed to achieve a market value of $62.5B in 2018.
3. Enel - $86.3B
Enel S.p.A. (further Enel) is the most significant electricity and natural gas distributor in Italy. Its international operations involve branches across 8 European, 10 Latin American, some Asian and African countries, as well as Canada and the USA. The overall activity of Enel across the globe resulted in sales of $86.3B and profits of $5.7B in 2018.
4. Poste Italiane - $35.1B
Poste Italiane S.p.A. (further Poste Italiane) is the leading postal service provider in Italy, but the range of its services is not limited to postal ones. The company also works as an insurance and finance, as well as logistics services provider. Poste Italiane employs over 135,000 professionals, whose joint effort resulted in $35.1B in sales, $238.8 B in assets and $1.7 B in profits by the end of 2018.
5. UniCredit - $31.1B
UniCredit S.p.A. (further UniCredit) is the biggest banking and financial services provider in Italy, operating internationally across 17 countries. The enterprise operates over 8,500 branches, served by around 150,000 employees in 50 markets of Western and Eastern Europe, as well as Asia and North America. UniCredit closed the 2018 financial year with annual sales of $31.1B.
6. Intesa Sanpaolo - $28.1B
Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. (further Intesa Sanpaolo) is the second biggest banking and financial services company from Italy by annual sales and assets as of 2018 - $28.1B and $900.5B, respectively. Intesa Sanpaolo has 1,600 branches across 12 countries and operates 7 business units, covering such areas as corporate and investment banking, private banking, insurance and others.
7. Telecom Italia - $22.4B
TIM S.p.A. (further Telecom Italia) is the largest telecommunications (including landline, mobile and DSL data) services provider in Italy in terms of annual sales. They reached the level of $22.4B in 2018. Together with its subsidiary located in Brazil, Telecom Italia serves more than 114M customers all over the world.
8. Unipol Gruppo - $16.4B
Unipol Gruppo S.p.A (further Unipol) is a financial services group, focusing on banking and insurance. It is headquartered in Bologna and operates across the whole country, providing jobs to around 15,000 professionals. The financial highlights of Unipol at the end of 2018 were as follows: sales - $16.4B, profits - $833M, assets - $87.6B and market value - $3.7B.
9. Leonardo - $14.4B
Leonardo S.p.A. (further Leonardo) is the biggest defence, security and aerospace market player in Italy. It managed to reach a decent amount of annual sales in 2018 - $14.4B, which made it the world's 8th biggest defence contractor. Leonardo operates 180 sites across multiple countries, served by over 46,000 employees.
10. Saras - $12.1B
Saras S.p.A. (further Saras) is an international holding from Italy, working in the energy sphere and operating 12 subsidiaries. The company is focusing on operations with petroleum - from refining and transportation to marketing and power generation. Saras was the 10th largest Italian public company by annual sales ($12.1B) in 2018.
11. Prysmian - $12B
Prysmian Group (further Prysmian) is yet another Italian company, operating in the energy sector. Unlike Saras, it is an electric power transmission manufacturer. This international corporation operates 112 production plants across 50 countries, that are giving jobs to over 30,000 employees. The sales of $12B as of 2018 made Prysmian a part of our top 15 Italian public companies in 2018.
12. Saipem - $10.1B
Saipem S.p.A. (further Saipem) is an oilfield services enterprise from Italy, operating internationally. It is the former subsidiary of #2 in our list - Eni and is still partially owned by this company. The 90 subsidiaries of Saipem are located in 60 countries across 5 continents and are served by over 23,000 employees. The enterprise’s activity resulted in annual sales of $10.1B in 2018.
13. Cattolica Assicurazioni - $7.1B
Società Cattolica di Assicurazione – Società Cooperativa (further Cattolica Assicurazioni) is one of the biggest insurance enterprises in Italy by annual sales as of 2018 - $7.1B, whose main competitors are Unipol Group and Generali Group. The company operates 4 subsidiaries across the country with around 1,700 employees.
14. Atlantia - $6.9B
Atlantia Spa (further Atlantia) is a group of companies from Italy that operates in the airport transport infrastructure sector, including motorways and transport services. The company manages the biggest Italian airports' infrastructure, as well as that of 3 french airports. Atlantia employs more than 31,000 professionals, whose activity in 2018 resulted in annual sales of $6.9B.
15. Pirelli - $6.1B
Pirelli & C. S.p.A. (further Pirelli) is an automotive industry player, known worldwide, and it is closing our list of the most prominent Italian public companies by sales in 2018 with sales of $6.1B. Pirelli is known as one of the biggest tire manufacturers in the world, along with Michelin, Continental, Goodyear and Bridgestone, and operates in 160 countries.
