The latest Bpifrance Le Lab and Rexecode barometer, carried out between 19 and 28 April with 1 988 VSEs and SMEs, is in good shape despite the third confinement. While executives' opinion on their cash flow was already good in February, the trend is leveling off at a high level. They are only 27% to anticipate a deterioration of their cash flow, against 82% a year ago at the height of the crisis. Their optimism is reflected in investment, with 57% of business leaders surveyed planning to invest in 2021, thus marking a virtual return to the level measured before the crisis. In addition, the balance of the evolution of investment spending returns to equilibrium, that is to say that the share of employers anticipating to increase their investments is equivalent to that of those planning to reduce them. "
We have a normalization of business investment one year after the crisis.
This trend, already notable in February, continues,
”notes Baptiste Thornary, chief economist at Bpifrance.
Read also:
The recovery plan is also for SMEs
These forecasts confirm the momentum for resumption of activity, with 28% of those polled considering that their turnover should equal or exceed the pre-crisis level this year, i.e. 10 points more than six months ago. . However, 43% believe that this level will remain more than 10% lower than in 2020. With a satisfaction rate of 80%, the difficulties of access to financing perceived by VSEs and SMEs remain very contained. Among the brakes to growth, we find - unsurprisingly as before the crisis - recruitment difficulties, highlighted by 44% of business leaders (+6 points compared to February). As for the deteriorated demand outlook, they are mentioned by 44% of SMEs and 45% of VSEs. Furthermore,the level of costs and prices is a constraint more frequently felt as an obstacle to activity (19%, against 11% in February), potentially linked to the rise in commodity prices.