The majority of Irish SME businesses are heading into the second half of 2024 with optimism, despite unstable geo-political headwinds and instability in global stock markets the latest Linked Finance SME Confidence Index.
The information comes from research conducted by IPSOS B&A.
However, micro-businesses (1-3 employees) remain under severe pressure, particularly when it comes to profitability, with no positive metrics on this front since 2018.
Three in 10 are not optimistic about trade in Q3 2024, according to the results, tipping them into negative territory overall for the first time since the Covid pandemic.
Indigenous businesses focused on the Irish market are also feeling the pinch somewhat.
Minimum wage legislation, inflation and Covid-linked debt warehousing have impacted these two cohorts more.
However, the large category of SME businesses (10+) is performing particularly well, with 69% reporting better results in the last 12 months.
Exporters are also doing much better in trade and confidence terms year-on-year, with an increase of 11 percentage points on the …