According to the bank's announcement, corporate sales revenues this year may once again rise above expected annual inflation, according to the latest K&H SME Confidence Index, which indicates the expectations of Hungarian micro, small and medium enterprises for the coming year. From the fourth quarter of last year.
The two companies currently plan to increase sales revenue by 7.2 percent and increase profits by 3.8 percent next year.
Business sales revenue can increase above inflation
Thus, the downward trend in revenue growth dynamics continued, while profit expectations were practically unchanged compared to the previous quarter.
According to the latest data from KSH, consumer prices in December were 5.5 percent higher on average than a year earlier. Thus, after more than a year, the dice have been flipped, and the expected increase in sales again exceeds the expected annual increase in consumer prices, which, according to MNB Bank forecasts, is expected to be in the range of 4-5.5 percent. this year
– informed Zoltán Rammacher, Director of Marketing and Sales for SMEs at K&H. Revenue forecasts for this year for companies of different sizes are divided into two camps:
- Once again, medium-sized companies expect the strongest sales growth of 8.4 percent,
- While the expectations of small and micro enterprises decreased to 7.1 percent compared to the previous quarter.
However, the sector shows a more consistent picture in terms of profit expectations: small enterprises expect the highest profit increase of 3.9 percent, but the forecast for small enterprises is also at a similar level of 3.8 percent, while for medium-sized enterprises, it is 3.6 percent.
There is still no significant change in investment intent, with 59% of companies planning some development this year.
“In terms of development goals, investments in the field of information technology remain at the forefront, and the proportion of companies thinking about this has jumped from 27 percent to 34 percent compared to the previous quarter – emphasized Zoltan Ramacher. – This is followed by the replacement and modernization of company vehicles, which are also being equipped By more people than in the previous quarter, instead of 16 percent, it was 21 percent.But the percentage of those planning to invest in machines fell significantly from 21 percent to 13 percent, the lowest percentage since 2015.
According to the expert, this also means that productive investments may decrease significantly this year, which may negatively affect the economy as a whole.
