Elise Denjean, edited by Nathanaël Bentura 06:00, April 05, 2022
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly weakened by soaring energy prices and many are forced to lower their margins.
this is the conclusion of a survey by the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CGPME) unveiled exclusively by Europe 1.
86% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are now forced to lower their margins, reveals one of the conclusions of a survey by the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CGPME) unveiled exclusively by Europe 1. This is the main consequence of this surge in energy prices.
For the time being, only one in five SMEs has chosen to increase its selling prices.
A drop in production
Among the most affected.
There are very small businesses that have signed electricity contracts at the market price, but also industrial SMEs.
8% of them even had to lower their production.
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Overall, for all of them, it was necessary to adapt, as did Nathalie Lalonde, a pastry baker in Nancy, whose electricity bill went from an average of 1,800 euros to 2,400 euros.
"We try to manage the cooking differently. There, we no longer cook in the afternoon, it's over, we can no longer turn on the oven to cook our baguettes. There is no gain. We just limit the breakage a bit."
Adapting also means limiting travel in companies that have company vehicles.
This is the choice made by 65 of the managers of SMEs, which according to them has a negative effect on their turnover and on their relations with their customers.