The minibond industry - debt securities up to a maximum amount of €50 million issued by Italian non-financial companies, both listed and unlisted - in 2021 returned to pre-Covid levels thanks to a collection of €1.67 billion from 219 issues. The figure, presented by the Polimi School of Management Observatory, shows a clear recovery compared to just over 900 million from 191 issues in 2020.
Since 2012, from the start of the market and up to the end of 2021, there have been 832 Italian companies that have issued minibonds, for a total of €8.07 billion and 1220 issues. Of this total, about 1.067 billion were raised in 2021 (out of 219 issues) and 903 million in 2020 (191 issues), after 1.173 billion in 2019, 977 million in 2018 and 1.175 billion in 2017. Italian small and medium-sized enterprises drive the growth of this sector. Considering only SMEs, in fact, total emissions since 2012 stand at 2.85 billion, of which 376 million in 2021 and 438 million in 2020.
According to the study, a further boost came from Invitalia's SME Heritage Fund, which between 2020 and 2021 involved 154 companies, for 264.5 million euros. These issues have not been considered in the report's numbers due to their standardisation. They are, however, to all intents and purposes debt securities that have made it possible to raise resources and acquire new expertise in the securities market for SMEs.
Looking at the maturity of minibonds of up to EUR 50 million, we can see that the distribution continues to be very varied, with a range of short-term securities with maturities of a few months and longer term issues. The average maturity for 2021 is 5.63 years (down from 2020). The majority of bonds provide for repayment of the bond in successive instalments (amortising). In the case of short-dated issues, the bullet mode, with full repayment at maturity, is relatively more common. And speaking of maturities, the Observatory of the Polytechnic calculates that this year is maturing minibonds under 50 million for 404 million.
As for the coupon, in most cases it is fixed but in 39 issues of 2021 it is indexed. The remuneration has increased slightly (the average is 3.65% compared to 3.61% a year earlier) also thanks to numerous issues that provide public guarantees issued by the National Guarantee Fund, SACE, regional finance companies or privately by the issuers themselves. Furthermore, securities without guarantees are now a minority of the market.
The use of ratings issued by authorised agencies remained in the minority in 2021, but was on the rise (34% of issues have obtained them, mostly undisclosed). The presence of call and put options with respect to the repayment of capital is frequent in minibonds; in 2021, those with a call option for early repayment at the issuer's discretion increased.
Finally, it is worth noting the growth in the number of "green" minibonds, issued to finance projects with a positive impact on the environment. Practically non-existent until 2018, 14 were placed in 2021 for a total of EUR 77.85 million.