Industry anticipates earnings growth
The majority of Liechtenstein’s industrial companies rate the general economic situation in the first quarter of the year as good. According to an economic survey by the Office of Statistics, they expect orders and earnings to go up in the coming months.
In a publication on the survey, the Office of Statistics states that for the latest issue of the quarterly economic survey it evaluated replies from 44 companies employing a total of 10,083 people. The polled companies represent 70% of the industrial sector and 30% of the national economy of Liechtenstein.
Analysts in the survey report write that according to the results, “Liechtenstein's industrial enterprises and the manufacturing industry are enjoying a generally positive business climate”. Capacity utilization, incoming orders and earnings in the first quarter of 2019 remained stable. Companies are expecting a rising order intake and higher earnings in the future.
However, analysts can detect different developments within the individual sectors. Overall the general situation in industry is largely considered to be good, but the non-metal industry is having to contend with the stabilization of incoming orders, capacity utilization and earnings after the boom in the last few quarters. By contrast, in the metal industry, respondents are expecting order intake to go up, but anticipate a reduction in machinery and capacity utilization. In the construction industry, an increase in incoming orders and earnings is anticipated for Q2 following a decline in earnings in Q1.