ΕΡΕΥΝΑ ΕΣΕΕ
- 30 Apr 2023
- economy
Commercial businesses face a "triple trap": reduced sales, increased operating costs and crippling debt.
66% of businesses are housed in leased premises, while 32% of businesses are privately owned.
61.2% of goods come from Greece, a percentage reduced compared to 68.2% for 2021 and 71.6% in 2020.
The probability of disruption of cooperation with suppliers in the first half of 2022 showed a decrease compared to the previous year (27% vs. 30% in 2021).
In the first half of 2022, 87.1% of businesses kept their employment level unchanged, down from 90.6% in 2021.
For 2022, the number of businesses with a six-monthly turnover of up to 20,000 euros decreased compared to 2021 (40% from 54%).
The six-month turnover of the representative business shows an increase from the previous year (61,532 euros in 2022 from 58,038 euros in 2021).
The average six-monthly purchase value of goods for the first half of 2022 amounts to 42,543 euros, which shows an increase of approximately 25% compared to 2021.
Approximately one in four companies has debts to the tax authorities, while one in five has debts to the insurance funds, with the same ratio observed for suppliers.
In the first half of 2022, there is an increase in the percentage of businesses with debts to the tax authorities, while there is a decrease in the percentage of businesses with debts to the insurance funds.
An increase of five percentage points is observed in the percentage of businesses with debts to suppliers for 2022 (21%) compared to the low percentage of 2021 (16%).
The percentage of commercial enterprises with an open business loan shows a significant increase in relation to the first half of 2021 (26% from 17%).
The company's equity continues to be the main source of financing (88%), and even to a stronger degree than in 2021 (81.8%).
Significant is the increase in financing from the owner's personal funds compared to last year (53.7% from 42.3%).
The investment activity in the retail trade shows a remarkable increase compared to the previous years (16% in 2022 from 12.1% in 2021 and 11.6% in 2020).
Energy cost hikes, rising commodity costs from suppliers, declining consumer spending, taxation, operating costs and lack of liquidity are now the most important problems for commercial enterprises.
Effects of Energy Cost Revaluations on Retail Trade
The turnover of 83.6% of commercial enterprises has been negatively affected by the price increases in energy costs.
25% of commercial enterprises estimate that the negative impact of energy costs on their turnover will range between 21-30%.
Due to energy costs, 76.7% of businesses were forced to increase the prices of their products.
30% of commercial businesses are experiencing increases of 31%-50% in their electricity bills.
40% of commercial enterprises are required to pay increased prices (11% to 20%) to their suppliers.
The main challenges faced by commercial enterprises in the midst of "multiple crises" are: a) financial obligations (42.8%), b) management of revaluations (25%) and c) liquidity (23.6%).
"Multi-criteria" make commercial enterprises "passive recipients" of mega-trends as only 1.8% consider the cost of "digital transformation" as a key challenge and only 0.3% the cost of "green transition".
The "energy crisis" is slowing the market's return to pre-Covid-19 levels, with 4 in 10 commercial firms estimating it will take more than two years for the market to substantially return to 2019 levels.
