Confidence Of Singapore SMEs At Lowest Mark Since 2013
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore expect their sales and profits to weaken in the next 2 Quarters, with business confidence at the lowest level since the start of Y 2013, according to an index released Tuesday.
The level of business confidence for 2-H of this year among Singapore SMEs fell from 54.0 to 53.5, which is the lowest level since the start of Y 2013, according to the SBF-DP SME Index, a forward-looking index which measures the sentiments of SMEs by Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and DP Information Group (DP Info) on the basis of 3,600 interviewed SMEs.
Four of the 6 industries included in the Index, namely commerce and trading, manufacturing, retail and food and beverage and transport and storage, are all less optimistic than they were three months ago, while for business services companies, the outlook remains the same.
Only the construction sector bucked the trend with a slight increase in its Index Score from 53.6 to 54.0. Other indicators measured by the Index have also fallen, reflecting the general dip in SME confidence.
Lincoln Teo, COO of DP Information Group, said SMEs are less optimistic but have yet to sink into pessimism. He said Singapore government’s sustained push on productivity and lifelong learning is underpinning the confidence of the services sector, and the commitment to infrastructure development is boosting sentiment among construction firms.
According to the survey, turnover outlook fell from an Index Score of 5.57 to 5.55. Profit expectations declined to 5.44 from last quarter’s figure of 5.47, while hiring expectations dipped to 5.46 from 5.70.
SBF and DP info said in a joint statement that continued waning confidence in hiring has forced SMEs to look toward productivity and operational efficiency measures as the 2 most viable solutions to meet year-end demand.
The statement revealed that SMEs are also choosing to invest capital in a bid to stave off manpower issues in the mid to long term. Correspondingly, government grants continue to drive capability development in SMEs.
Stay tuned…
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
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