What is 'Sorry for the late reply' when translated from English to Italian?

Mi spiace per la risposta tardiva is an Italian equivalent of the English phrase "Sorry for the late reply." The declarative statement starts with the personal pronoun as indirect object to the third person impersonal singular of the present indicative to translate literally as "To me it is sad (saddening, sorry)." The pronunciation will be "mee dee-SPYA-tchey per la ree-SPO-sta tar-DEE-va" in Italian.