Slight improvement in 2018 corporate results
The first signs regarding Greek enterprises’ 2018 financial reports are positive, per a new survey by ICAP covering 1,239 companies. Figures show an increase in sales and pretax profits compared to 2017, but there was also a deterioration in operating profits, mainly in the service and industry sectors, while six out of 10 companies were profit-making and four in 10 reported losses.
The grouped results of those enterprises point to a total turnover increase of 11.2 percent on an annual basis, with sales amounting to 52.3 billion euros. However, the rise in costs was higher (14.7 percent), resulting in a marginal decline of gross profits (down 0.3 percent) last year.
Owing to the significant increase in operating expenses, the net operating result slumped 21.5 percent in 2018 compared to 2017. Pretax earnings posted 7.4 percent growth to reach 2.75 billion euros, with the rise in profits coming from all sectors of activity except for services, where there was a small decline.
However, on an operating profit level (EBITDA) the picture is quite different, as there was a significant 16.1 percent drop year-on-year, main due to services and the industrial sector.
