Distant Worlds
It all started in 1993, so several years ago, and as often happens, very simply. «I was a customs agent who decided to start his own business, and for several years I was also the only employee of Spedimar: Spedizioni di Martino. I was fascinated by the idea of ​​having contacts with the rest of the world, with countries that were then perceived as being ‘very far away’, and with which you had to relate with intuition and a pinch of luck. Europe was de facto still divided, the Soviet Union had just collapsed, Yugoslavia was dissolving, the European Union was just a name, you certainly couldn't count on a common language, English, our world ended at the borders of the Old Continent. Thirty years later - celebrated last year - we are thirty and we continue to grow", notes the founder, Marrino Pezzotti (pictured).
Compared to then, something has evidently changed, "Young people are not afraid of the speed that has become the norm in today's world, so they also approach our work with greater serenity. They have not lived through that long phase in which meticulousness was the fortune of every forwarder, in which a wrong customs declaration was a huge problem, and in which, once the truck had left, it was very difficult to contact the driver to change plans. There is no going back, I often say, and we have to deal with today's difficulties, daily ones, simply different from the past", concludes the director.

Leasing on capital goods is an interesting source of financing from many points of view, and is flexible enough to adapt to very different business models, and investments of various kinds, even in a significantly inflationary context.

During the first months of the pandemic emergency, therefore now four years ago, the hidden engine of globalization suddenly came to light, which has made it possible for global GDP to run in the last twenty years, on the wings of the free market: logistics. Therefore the vast and varied world of those operators who animate supply chains, and who in practice make the 'click' of the Amazon of the moment tangible.

As often happens alongside global operators, with tens of thousands of collaborators and millions of counterparties, there are also small companies, with a local character, but active on a regional basis. «I founded the company in 1993, and since then we have been active from Chiasso, towards the rest of Europe, and based on our customers' requests we can organize shipments even further, therefore towards the United States, Brazil, North Africa... . We offer a complete and well-diversified palette of services that ranges from transport and customs clearance, to storage and distribution, through customs operations, documentation and all the insurance part», explains Martino Pezzotti, director and founder of Spedimar, a specialized company in the sector.

Over the last few decades the world has changed, but how much does a sector that has its roots in History balance it? «Today we think on an increasingly larger scale, and everything has become incredibly faster. Shipments evolve quickly, even during the journey, which would have been unthinkable before the 2000s, and therefore the approach to organizing transport has changed. The expansion of European borders, for example, has made everything simpler, it is much more fluid, thanks to IT and English, which in our small way is pushing us to open up to new routes, compared to the past", continues the director.

Longer supply chains and a broader geographic base, if on the one hand they should make production more efficient, on the other they raise many difficulties, first of all with respect to means and vehicles. "In our sector, self-financing remains the main route for most of the market, despite margins under strong pressure, especially in the case of Switzerland in the face of the chronic strengthening of the franc. While for smaller companies investments in real estate are not too frequent, traditionally it is customary to meet the needs of the fleet by resorting to leasing, avoiding immobilizing significant quantities of liquidity, which can be used differently", specifies Pezzotti.

Leasing on capital goods, in this case the means, is therefore a solution with several positive aspects. "The first gain is obviously in terms of liquidity, and the financial flexibility that this provides. Leasing stabilizes the cost structure, sterilizing any currency and interest risk. From the beginning of the contract everything becomes perfectly plannable, and within certain limits also very customizable, without forgetting the advantage of always remaining technologically updated." observes Marko Barisic, member of the Management.

Predictability, which is a determining factor in a country subject to significant exchange rate fluctuations and frequent currency mismatches. «Every time you acquire a new customer, a portion of liquidity must be paid in advance, and you get it from margins and cost containment, which can be many in our sector. The technological advancement of the fleet reduces the cost of road taxes to which the vehicles are subject, to give a simple example, which is added to the other large chapter, depreciation and cost of capital, significant issues for all those companies that do not have significant capital behind them», notes the director of Spedimar.

However, each investment is different from the other, and the company and sector are different, which can therefore make some small adjustments necessary. «The most suitable leasing model depends on the individual circumstances, there is certainly no formula that is suitable for everyone. We tend to work on planning the installments, which can therefore be increasing, decreasing, constant or personalized. The latter are necessary where the company does not have regular income, or is subject to strong seasonality, such as in the agricultural, tourism or construction sectors. In the case of the great classic, in constant installments, payment is due monthly and in advance on the first of each month, in the case of the other forms, a half-yearly or seasonal basis can be reached. This is an ideal formula for new investments such as production plants, construction machinery, medical equipment, agricultural machinery, and indeed commercial vehicles», continues the head of Raiffeisen.

But in practice, how does it work? «It is a consolidated and rather simple process. The entire first part of the choice and negotiation is up to the customer, who contacts the supplier. It then starts with a careful analysis of all the details of the operation and the contractor, which is followed by an initial proposal formulated by our consultant, and ends with the stipulation of a leasing contract. Once the administrative part is closed, Raiffeisen receives the invoice from the supplier and purchases the investment asset. By respecting the conditions of the contract, the asset is available to the customer until the natural expiration date, after which a new phase begins", notes Barisic.

Each case is different, but what is this case in particular? "A truck without too many specifications can cost between 100 and 140 thousand francs, a figure that can easily more than double in the case of necessary technical specifications. Usually in our sector we discuss leasing between 4 and 5 years, with annual amortization, and at present an average interest of 3.6% per year is applied, equivalent to 9% over the entire duration of the contract. We began collaborating with Banca Raiffeisen del Basso Mendrisiotto in '93, in many ways we grew together, also building a human and professional relationship. It is typical of a local bank: it knows you, listens to you, you can talk to it. We can therefore meet each other more easily, even in the case of need", concludes Pezzotti.

A bumpy spring
The Purchasing Managers Index of Swiss SMEs fell again in April, reaching 44.8 points. All six subcomponents are decreasing, starting with the order portfolio, which fell from 50.7 to 44.5 points. How are companies reacting?
Despite the improvement in sentiment in the Eurozone, Swiss SMEs remain very concerned about the anemic trend in global demand, to which they are responding for the moment without significant cuts in staff, but by resorting to short-time work, waiting for an improvement that is not coming.