ICAP

Despite the ongoing health crisis, a number of enterprises are optimistic about what 2021 may hold. A recent ICAP survey showed that while five out of 10 enterprises expect their turnover this year to be smaller than in 2019, they still consider it will be an improvement on 2020.

The majority of businesses are expecting a freeze on investments and a considerable drop in this year's turnover as they face a second year with the pandemic and its consequences, while instead of being viewed as a plus, most enterprises are concerned at the rise of teleworking, an ICAP survey has found.

Greek cosmetics firms are expected to show an 11% decline in turnover at the end of the year, ending a growth run that itself had followed seven lean years during the financial crisis.

According to data by market research firm ICAP, total turnover for Greek cosmetics firms will reach 772 million euros, in wholesale prices, from €867 million in 2019.

The first signs regarding Greek enterprises' 2018 financial reports are positive, per a new survey by ICAP covering 1,239 companies. Figures show an increase in sales and pretax profits compared to 2017, but there was also a deterioration in operating profits, mainly in the service and industry sectors, while six out of 10 companies were profit-making and four in 10 reported losses.

Turnover in commerce may be on the increase, but that doesn't mean all market players are seeing their trade expanding at the same rate.

The country's 500 most profitable companies in 2017 generated impressive returns according to the figures stemming from their financial reports as processed by ICAP for its special annual publication "Business Leaders in Greece 2018."

The total turnover of the 500 leading firms in terms of profits rose 9.5 percent last year compared to 2016, reaching 91.02 billion euros.

The Federation of Business Information Service (FEBIS) has chosen Athens as the location for its annual general meeting and a two-day conference tomorrow and on Friday, with the support of the ICAP group of companies.

Two-thirds (almost 65 percent) of chief executive officers at major Greek enterprises believe Greece will still need monitoring after the end of the bailout program this August, although their expectations as regards the course of the country's economy over the next 12 months are broadly positive, according to a survey by the Association of Chief Executive Officers (EASE) and ICAP.

A lack of meritocracy and corruption are the main reasons why talented young Greeks head abroad for work, according to ICAP People Solutions, an international human resources services provider.

The results of the group's research regarding the country's brain drain were presented last month within the framework of the 3rd Human Capital Summit.

Almost two in every three Greek companies (63 percent) are deemed to have a high credit risk, compared to just 6 percent in 2009, according to data compiled by ICAP, as the Greek production base is collapsing rapidly.