Companies assess situation as satisfactory
The industry and service companies in Liechtenstein have assessed their general business situation in the first quarter of 2021 as satisfactory. They expect an unchanged situation in the second quarter according to the business survey from the Office of Statistics.
Overall, 69 percent of companies in industry and the services sector have assessed their general business activities in the first quarter as satisfactory. The business survey from the Liechtenstein Office of Statistics shows that 15 percent assessed the general situation as good, and 16 percent as poor. It also states that those surveyed expect the situation to remain the same in the second quarter. They anticipate stable profitability and little change in staff.
There are differences among the sectors. For example, in industry and manufacturing, incoming orders as well as machine and capacity utilization have increased. The companies in this sector expect further improvement with regard to this in the second quarter. They anticipate that earnings and the number of employees should remain stable.
The situation is different for companies from the metalworking industry and trade. Despite increasing incoming orders and better utilization of machines and capacity, efficiency and the number of employees has followed a negative trend. For the current quarter, the companies anticipate further increases in incoming orders as well as increased machine and capacity utilization, but they do not envisage any improvement in the profit situation. They even anticipate a decrease in the number of employees.
In the construction industry, the profit situation deteriorated in the first quarter, whereas the number of employees increased. Companies only expect an increase in orders for the ongoing quarter, with otherwise stable figures. Two out of three companies are facing obstacles to production such as supply bottlenecks and large bureaucratic hurdles.
Differences are also present in the service sector, with those surveyed from banks viewing the trend for demand as well as profitability as positive in the first quarter. They anticipate a further increase in the second quarter. However, the number of employees shrank in the first quarter. They only foresee slight changes for the current quarter. Insurance companies view their situation in a slightly better light.
Retailers assessed the general situation at the end of the first quarter as good. However, their business situation has generally worsened over the course of the quarter. Insufficient demand is a particular negative effect, but the companies anticipate improvement in the second quarter. There was no change in the number of employees and this is not expected either.
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