WARSAW, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Followings are some facts about
small and medium-sized companies in Poland, Hungary and the
Czech Republic, based on data from statistics offices, economy
and finance ministries, and business lobby groups.
Poland's SMEs are expected to fare better than their
Hungarian or Czech counterparts, in line with their countries'
respective growth prospects, changes on the labour market and
access to financing.
For an analysis on the fate of small business in the region
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POLAND
* In Poland, the region's largest market of 38 million
consumers, SMEs are defined as firms with up to 249 employees.
* About 9 million Poles, or about 70 percent of the labour
force, work for SMEs, which produce almost 50 percent of the
country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Their share in tax
revenues from excise and VAT is at about 50 billion zlotys per
year, or about 15 percent of total budget revenues.
* According to Lewiatan, a large business group in Poland
with many SME members, the sector was hit in the first half of
2009 by falling demand and weakening access to financing. But
SME's expect a significant improvement in the second half,
bringing total 2009 sales up from 2008.
* Lewiatan says lay-offs in the sector were not significant
and companies do not plan on any mass lay-offs ahead.
* According to credit insurer Coface, 497 firms filed for
bankruptcy in the first nine months of 2009, compared with 317
in all-2008.
* A central bank survey showed that 65-70 percent of banks
tightened short and long-term credit for SMEs in the second
quarter and planned further tightening in the third quarter
despite rising demand for financing.
HUNGARY
* In Hungary, a market of 10 million consumers, SMEs are
firms with up to 250 employees. They employ 60 percent of the
active work force, or about 1.1 million people, according to the
statistics office KSH.
* The Hungarian SME sector represents 26.1 percent of
industrial output, and around half of total GDP.
* Total tax-type payments (excluding VAT and excise taxes)
from SMEs to state coffers amount to an annual 1,100 billion
forints ($6.07 billion).
* Hungarian small and medium-sized businesses were hit by
falling demand and limited access to financing, but, unlike in
Poland, that is not easing for now. Industrial output continues
to linger at levels 20 percent below last year's, with SMEs also
losing a fifth of their output. This is not expected to pick up
in the next few months.
* Bankruptcies in Hungary's SME sector could reach tens of
thousands of companies (total number of SME companies at the end
of 2008 was 340,000).
* The brunt of bankruptcies is yet to come, experts agree,
as domestic orders are not picking up and the recovery seen in
Western Europe bypasses the country. According to Opten, a
company which gathers bankruptcy data, more than 20,000 small
companies have started bankruptcy proceedings in 2009 alone.
CZECH REPUBLIC
* Czech SMEs, which employ up to 250 people and have a
turnover of less than 50 million euros, make up for 75-80
percent of the country's GDP.
* The Czech union of SMEs says access to bank loans is the
biggest problem for the sector as a lack of financing makes
companies cancel or put on ice investment plans. On average they
lay off 15-20 percent of staff.
* SMEs say they can survive 2009 with savings measures,
including layoffs, and no growth, but they say they would not
last through 2010 unless there is a significant economic
recovery, said David Seich, the union's chairman.
* A total of 6,591 entities (firms and individuals) filed
for bankruptcy in the first nine months of the year, up 70
percent year on year. 58 percent of all filings were corporate
bankruptcy filings, credit agency Creditreform said.
(Compiled by Karolina Slowikowska; editing by Patrick
Graham)
