Turnover of 36% companies halves in April : EK

About 36% of the Finnish employer companies covered by a recent survey conducted by the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) reported that their turnover is at least half of what is normal in April.

The EK published the results of its third coronavirus survey on Thursday, according to which the decline in turnover is clearly larger in the service sector than in other main industries. The smaller employers have incurred the loss drastically.

A total of 44% of the responding employers have made temporary lay-offs (the previous survey conducted two weeks ago found the percentage at 37).

With regard to redundancies, the situation is unchanged and only five per cent of the companies have made them.

About half of the companies stated that they need financial support from the state. About two-fifths of the respondents said they need discounts or other economic relief regarding bank or rental payments.

About seven per cent of the respondents had already received state support, 17% received relief in bank or rental payments, and 22% loan repayment waiver to cope with the coronavirus crisis.

About 73% (which was 69% two weeks ago) of the respondents estimated that they would be up and running in three months time while 16% (which was 18% two weeks ago) estimated that they are in danger of going bankrupt.

“People’s health is the first priority when solving the COVID crisis. At the same time, Finland must prepare to re-open the society as soon as it can be done safely. This requires extensive testing and rapid tracing of the exposed in order to prevent the spread of the virus. The business community and economic experts must also be consulted when making the big decisions – it is our joint target to make sure the society and the national economy survive the crisis even in the long perspective,” said EK Director-General Jyri Häkämies.

A total of 1,361 entrepreneurs and business leaders in Finland, all of whom are employers, responded to the third COVID-19 business survey carried out by the EK. The response period to the survey was April 14 to 15.