Informes

In the UK chemicals sector there are high barriers to get into a successful team, while the industry shows a solid performance in Slovakia.

In both countries there are star players within the sector, while some segments are weaker, e.g. in German beverage subsector profit margins decrease.

The ball keeps on rolling for machinery in both countries, but difficulties have increased. The level of protracted payments is high in both markets.

Italy´s chemicals sector is finally scoring at home due to a modest economic rebound, while Ireland has all top pharmaceuticals players in the team.

Despite still robust growth rate of the ICT market in China, challenges are increasing. Competition is getting fiercer, and labour costs are increasing.

Despite overall growth, many French ICT companies face structurally low margins, price pressure and an on-going consolidation process in the market.

The ICT market in the United States is expected to benefit further from stable economic growth. No further decrease in insolvencies expected in 2016.

The pharmaceuticals sector performs very well in both countries. However, the French pharmacy segment faces some troubles due to decreasing margins.

Unless they are well-established in niche products, smaller companies in Germany are expected to continue to be the losers in a cut-throat environment.

The IT spending capacity of SMEs in Italy remains subdued. This may be a consequence of still restricted access to bank loans for smaller businesses.