One in two (49%) French SME leaders fear they will “not be able to afford a third embargo,” according to the results of a survey conducted by the French Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CPME) among its members and released on Tuesday, January 26.
In a worrying sign, more and more French SME directors are expressing doubts about their ability to repay their debts or cover their expenses.
In the meantime, while the French are fearing a possible third closure order by the authorities, the number of new Covid-19 patients hospitalized continued to rise on Monday, January 25, reaching 26,888, the first Time since December 9 that the number of people in CPR intensive care units exceeded 3,000, according to French public health data. French hospitals admitted 531 new coronavirus patients, more than on Sunday, when the number exceeded 26,000.
In addition, the French Ministry of Public Health has announced 449 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths caused by the Epidemic to 73,498.
As usual, when the number of infections is always low after a weekend when fewer tests are done for new crowns, the number of confirmed new cases since Sunday is 4,240.
According to the results of a survey conducted by the French Federation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (FEMME) among its members and published on Tuesday, January 26, one in two (49%) business owners believe that “they cannot afford a third embargo.
In a survey of 2,400 leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises and ultra-small businesses conducted between January 7 and 20, 54% also expressed “concern about the sustainability of their businesses. This compares with 47 percent in the previous survey conducted in September. Fifty-three percent of them believe that the curfew is slowing down their business operations. And a third (33 percent) of leaders “feel their businesses are receiving a state infusion.” .
According to the National Organization of Business Owners in a bulletin, “The outlook for 2021 is mixed, but not catastrophic. While 52 percent of respondents expect turnover to decline in the coming months, 48 percent expect businesses to sustain or even grow.”
Worrying signs, though, are that more and more French SME leaders are expressing doubts about their ability to pay off debts or cover expenses.
One in two French companies can benefit from deferred tax or social contributions. A third of them (36%) believe they will not be able to repay these taxes, up from 28% in September. As for loans guaranteed by the state (PGE), 58% of responding SMEs and VSEs said they had recourse, with nearly one in two (45%) beneficiaries believing they would not be able to repay, compared to one in three (34%) four months ago.
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