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For the period from October 2018 to March 2019 the net percentage of euro area SMEs reporting higher turnover declined (21%, down from 25% for the previous period). At the same time, euro area SMEs reported unchanged profits in net terms (0%, down from 3%), while more SMEs reported growing labour costs (52%, up from 51%), increases in other costs (i.e. material and energy) (57%, unchanged), and rising interest expenses (5%, up from 4%).
Availability of skilled labour continued to be the dominant concern for euro area SMEs (25%, down from 26%), followed by the difficulty of finding customers (23%, up from 22%).
Access to finance remained the least important concern (8%, up from 7%). In net terms, SMEs continued to indicate improved availability of bank loans (9%, down from 11%), with the highest percentages in Spain (16%), Ireland (15%) and Portugal (14%). SMEs attributed these improvements to the willingness of banks to provide credit (16%, down from 17%). However, in this survey round euro area SMEs perceived the general economic outlook as an impediment to the availability of external finance (-9% down from 2%). This assessment was broad-based across countries, but it was most marked in Greece (-23%, down from -11%), Italy (-17%, down from -7%), Spain (-8%, down from -1%) and France (‑11%, down from -5%).
For the second consecutive survey round since 2014, euro area SMEs reported net rises in interest rates on bank loans (4% net, up from 3% in the previous round). Reporting of increases in other costs of financing, such as charges, fees and commissions, also continued (30%, down from 31%).