MILAN, Nov 30 (Class Editori) — The US and China shared almost all the revenues, amounting to 1.584 trillion euros, or 90% of Italian GDP, of the world’s 25 largest WebSoft companies, but the US got 67% of the pie, 28% went to China, and only 5% to groups in other countries.
This was found by Area Studi Mediobanca’s annual survey of the world’s largest software and web groups. The study considered the twenty-five largest international WebSoft companies, with revenues over 12 billion euros each, of which eleven are based in the US, nine in China, two in Germany and in Japan, and one in South Korea.
The pandemic has further highlighted the growth speed gap between WebSoft companies and multinational manufacturers. While the former have accelerated (+50% revenues in the 2019-2021 period), the latter have registered only a 7.6% increase. Turnover is increasingly concentrated: the top three players, Amazon, Alphabet, and Microsoft, account for half of aggregate revenues, with Amazon (414.8 billion, 50.9% of which generated by retail), in first position since 2014, concentrating alone more than a quarter.
WebSoft multinationals continue to shine in industrial profitability. With an EBIT margin at 15.8% in 2021, they rank third in industry comparison after pharmaceuticals (24.1%) and telco (15.9%). However, if we focus exclusively on the digital core and exclude e-commerce, their EBIT margin rises to 25.8%, excelling over all other industries.
At the end of 2021, the WebSoft workforce numbered nearly 4 million people worldwide, up by more than a million over 2019, including +810,000 from Amazon alone, the undisputed queen of employment: 1.608 million at the end of 2021.
In 2021, about 30% of the pre-tax profit of the world's 25 largest WebSoft companies is taxed in tax-advantaged countries, resulting in tax savings of 12.4 billion in 2021 and 36.3 billion in the three-year period 2019-2021. The average rate is 15.4% in 2021, lower than the theoretical rate of 21.9%. Over the 2019-2021 period, taxation in tax-advantaged countries resulted in tax savings for Tencent, Microsoft, and Alphabet of 13.4 billion, 6.9 billion, and 5.2 billion, respectively.
WebSoft presides over Italy through subsidiaries, mostly located in the North, especially in Milan and its province. The aggregate turnover of Italian subsidiaries reached 8.3 billion in 2021, employing about 23,000 workers. Compared to 2020, over 4,000 more employees are calculated, mostly hired by the Amazon Group, which boasts the largest number of employees in Italy (11,911 in 2021). In 2021, the WebSoft giants' subsidiaries paid nearly 150 million to the Italian tax authorities for an effective tax rate of 25.1%. Also considering the provision for payment of the Digital Service Tax, the tax rate would rise to 33.5%.
(Source:Class Editori)
Notice: No person, organization and/or company shall disseminate or broadcast the above article on Xinhua Silk Road website without prior permission by Xinhua Silk Road.
A single purchase
