DUIHK survey shows fewer companies plan investments, new hires

The latest survey of business sentiment conducted by the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DUIHK) shows fewer companies have plans to invest or expand their payroll as outlooks sour.

The survey of 209 companies conducted in October showed that 34 percent expected their own business situation to worsen, while just 18 percent expected improvement. In the previous survey, conducted in the spring, 28 percent expected an improvement and 26 percent deterioration.

Around 37 percent of companies said they planned to cut back on capital expenditures and just 25 percent signalled growing CAPEX. The ratio of companies planning to spend less on investments exceeded that of businesses boosting spending for the first time in ten years, DUIHK noted.

The share of companies planning layoffs (21 percent) also exceeded the share that plan new hires (18 percent) for the first time in a decade.

Companies counted weakening demand, the shortage of trained workers and higher labour costs among business risks they face.

Source: MTI