Seven out of ten Portuguese companies predict a drop in profits of more than 10%
Most financial managers of Portuguese companies plan to cut costs and investments to cope with the reduction in business caused by the new coronavirus pandemic.
Financial managers in Portugal know that the new coronavirus pandemic will affect business. Almost seven out of ten Portuguese companies predicts a reduction in profits or revenues of over 10% because of the crisis, according to the PwC survey of chief financial officers (CFO) in several countries, including Portugal.
Compared to CFOs in Denmark and Germany, “countries that have made remarkable progress in reopening”, Portuguese managers are more pessimistic about the impact of Covid-19 on revenues: only 26% of Portuguese CFOs forecast a decrease of less than 10%, while more Danes (31%) and Germans (27%) have such forecasts.
Overall, 85% of financial managers in Portugal take the decrease in business for granted, according to the same survey.
Foreseeing a lower turnover, companies expect to reduce investments and cut costs to face the crisis: 83% of CFOs admit that cost containment is the crucial response measure (compared with 81% in the various countries); 61% should postpone or cancel planned investments.
If the Covid-19 crisis ended immediately, six out of ten financial managers in Portugal would estimate a return to normality within three months and more than one year, an estimate in line with the other countries.
As positive effects, companies say they are now in a better position of long-term resilience and agility (72%) and have greater labour flexibility (70%).
