Carole Ferry, edited by Clément Perruche 6:49 am, December 6, 2021

As the fifth wave of Coronavirus takes shape, Europe 1 exclusively reveals the conclusions of an investigation by the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.

The fear of not repaying its loans and of having to pass on the rise in the price of raw materials is on the rise.

EUROPE INFO 1

While in September, politicians welcomed the economic recovery, today uncertainty looms with the arrival of the fifth wave.

In this context, how are our business leaders doing?

Europe 1 exclusively unveils a survey by CPME, the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.

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Concern over state guaranteed loans

The first lesson of this survey is that a third of business leaders fear that they will have difficulty repaying the loans guaranteed by the State that they have contracted.

They were only 18% before the summer.

The main fear of business leaders is the repayment period: 4 years.

Many fear that this delay is insufficient.

Especially since, of course, the activity is doing better for the moment.

But more than 80% of companies are faced with rising prices for raw materials and energy, including fuel.

Reduction of margins

According to François Asselin, the president of the CPME, this price increase threatens the financial equilibrium of companies. "The real question is what do we do with this increase? Can we pass it on to customers, to their selling prices? Well, about 10% of companies say that they were able to pass it on in full to their selling price. In the end, it is very little. What does that mean? It means that they are drawing on their margins, so [they are going to] make less profit. then, as the indebtedness for a large number of them has increased, the difficulties still remain in front of us, it must be said, "he explains.

Moreover, in the future, more than a third of business leaders think they will be forced to increase their prices.

A third also plans to reduce its energy consumption by limiting travel in particular.