Over half of SMEs expect absolutely no growth this year: survey

SMEs are now more pessimistic.

Singapore’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are extremely pessimistic about their growth prospects for 2016, according to the latest SME Development (SMED) Survey.
The survey, conducted by DP Information Group, showed that 53% are experiencing zero or negative turnover growth in 2015, a notch higher compared with just 47% last year.

Those SMES who expect zero sales growth are rolling out initiatives to boost profits despite heightened economic uncertainty, but these new strategies yet to deliver the expected returns.

On a more positive note, the proportion of companies seeing negative turnover growth has fallen slightly to 6%, continuing the downward trend from 2012.

“With the challenging economic environment, Singapore is projected to experience a modest pace of growth. MTI has forecasted the growth of the Singapore economy to be at 2.0-2.5% in 2015. The latest SBF-DP SME Index for October 2015 – March 2016 has also shown a decline in the overall business outlook with companies forecasting weaker sales and profits over the next six months,” said Leung Wai Ling, Assistant Chief Executive (Corporate Development & SPRING Investment), SPRING Singapore.