Carpetright Share Discussion Threads

[rubberbullets] 06/6/2016 09:14

Britain’s small and medium-sized enterprises are deeply concerned about the outlook for the economy, new data from the Close Brothers Business Barometer reveals, with most business leaders wary about their prospects for growth. The research suggests SME confidence has actually fallen back since the beginning of the year, with businesses now buffeted by a broad range of headwinds.

Only one in five SMEs in the latest barometer survey now say they are confident about the steady recovery of the economy, with a further 31% suggesting that the path back to prosperity will be slow, even though they feel the worst of the challenges associated with the economy are now behind us. More than a quarter of SMEs told Close Brothers they feared the economy could decline again, up slightly from the 25% of SMEs that felt this way at the beginning of the year.

In addition, close to a quarter actually warned they had not yet seen any true economic recovery, or even said they thought that the economy was worsening. This is the same number that felt this way at the start of the year.

The pessimism of so many SMEs reflects a variety of problems. The macro-economic outlook worries many business leaders, as the UK faces uncertainty ahead of the referendum on European Union membership later this month and the global economy continues to waver. But SMEs also face issues such as the higher costs of the national minimum wage, pension auto-enrolment and new tax regulation.

Just a fifth of SMEs expect their business to expand over the next 12 months, while as many as 57% are anticipating no growth at all. One in 10 actually expects to see their business contract over the year ahead, or even to close down.

“SMEs are deeply concerned about their prospects for the next 12 months,” warned David Thomson, CEO of Close Brothers Invoice Finance. “We know that many entrepreneurs and business leaders have exciting and ambitious plans for their companies, but fear their plans are not achievable against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and rising costs; in many cases, SMEs now feel even more pessimistic than they did at the beginning of the year.”

Close Brothers Invoice Finance’s figures also indicate that SMEs can ill afford another 12 months of disappointing results, with many having achieved no growth over the past year. 52% said their businesses hadn’t grown at all during the past 12 months.

“Our latest Business Barometer paints a worrying picture of the fragile state of confidence amongst the UK’s SMEs today,” added Thomson. “After the financial crisis of 2008, we saw similar low levels of confidence in SMEs. We found it was the businesses that explored every possible funding option and ensured their enterprises were constructed on firm financial foundations that were able to ride out the uncertainty and continue working towards their growth ambitions.”

Notes to editors
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from a GMI survey conducted in April 2016. The survey canvassed the opinion of SME owners and business managers from several industries across the UK and Ireland on a range of issues affecting their businesses.

Enquiries
Natalie McLeod at Close Brothers Invoice Finance
01273 765 859 or [e-mail]





140p will come here imho

[rubberbullets] 06/6/2016 09:14

Britain’s small and medium-sized enterprises are deeply concerned about the outlook for the economy, new data from the Close Brothers Business Barometer reveals, with most business leaders wary about their prospects for growth. The research suggests SME confidence has actually fallen back since the beginning of the year, with businesses now buffeted by a broad range of headwinds.

Only one in five SMEs in the latest barometer survey now say they are confident about the steady recovery of the economy, with a further 31% suggesting that the path back to prosperity will be slow, even though they feel the worst of the challenges associated with the economy are now behind us. More than a quarter of SMEs told Close Brothers they feared the economy could decline again, up slightly from the 25% of SMEs that felt this way at the beginning of the year.

In addition, close to a quarter actually warned they had not yet seen any true economic recovery, or even said they thought that the economy was worsening. This is the same number that felt this way at the start of the year.

The pessimism of so many SMEs reflects a variety of problems. The macro-economic outlook worries many business leaders, as the UK faces uncertainty ahead of the referendum on European Union membership later this month and the global economy continues to waver. But SMEs also face issues such as the higher costs of the national minimum wage, pension auto-enrolment and new tax regulation.

Just a fifth of SMEs expect their business to expand over the next 12 months, while as many as 57% are anticipating no growth at all. One in 10 actually expects to see their business contract over the year ahead, or even to close down.

“SMEs are deeply concerned about their prospects for the next 12 months,” warned David Thomson, CEO of Close Brothers Invoice Finance. “We know that many entrepreneurs and business leaders have exciting and ambitious plans for their companies, but fear their plans are not achievable against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and rising costs; in many cases, SMEs now feel even more pessimistic than they did at the beginning of the year.”

Close Brothers Invoice Finance’s figures also indicate that SMEs can ill afford another 12 months of disappointing results, with many having achieved no growth over the past year. 52% said their businesses hadn’t grown at all during the past 12 months.

“Our latest Business Barometer paints a worrying picture of the fragile state of confidence amongst the UK’s SMEs today,” added Thomson. “After the financial crisis of 2008, we saw similar low levels of confidence in SMEs. We found it was the businesses that explored every possible funding option and ensured their enterprises were constructed on firm financial foundations that were able to ride out the uncertainty and continue working towards their growth ambitions.”

Notes to editors
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from a GMI survey conducted in April 2016. The survey canvassed the opinion of SME owners and business managers from several industries across the UK and Ireland on a range of issues affecting their businesses.

Enquiries
Natalie McLeod at Close Brothers Invoice Finance
01273 765 859 or [e-mail]

[supasapi] 28/5/2016 10:55

Yeah of course people will make their carpets last forever all of a sudden

[supasapi] 26/5/2016 17:11

agree blondeamon..... expect this to creep along and then go north.... it's a good company

[rubberbullets] 26/5/2016 16:00

yes should tank to 160p as suggested

wouldnt want to hold this over the next update or two

and CR has sold em too i heard at 5 quid prob

[blondeamon] 26/5/2016 13:06

I'm happy if it goes lower before Brexit as I want some more but agreed it looks like it bottomed on these levels.

[gleach23] 26/5/2016 10:33

Chunky 335k trade today - will await Holdings RNS

Hoping it has found some support here having made a recent top up.

[dlku] 25/5/2016 11:14

it was a military ship so i doubt that it was pleasurable.
anyway, theres a gaping hole in the side of the carpetright ship and its sinking fast

*glob* glob*

[stamford hill] 24/5/2016 13:02

People only seem to remember the sinking. They forget that the Belgrano experienced many hours of pleasurable cruising before she went down..

[dlku] 24/5/2016 11:00

Looks like its sinking like the belgrano

[stewy_18] 19/5/2016 10:44

It is a lot more to do with Neptune selling down. If there was anything fundamentally wrong with sales, they would have issued it in the last trading statement. Take a look at the RNS's. When Neptune is out fully (if that is what they want) that would be the time to pile in.

[onjohn] 18/5/2016 18:25

Good point She-ra
Im expectingthese to bottom at 90p

[she-ra] 18/5/2016 16:13

Its probably what George Soros said yesterday that spooked investors. Carpetright relies a lot on credit purchases and if there is a serious global downturn big ticket items like carpets are the first thing to suffer. Credit tightening would really hurt this company.

But of course I hope George Soros is wrong because hes a t+*t and because of self interest.

[rubberbullets] 18/5/2016 15:04

getting tonked again, prob folks gettig squelched on marshall and chucking in all cr stocks

[rubberbullets] 13/5/2016 19:31

Profit warning here in due course

Carney said uk prospect of recession

[allstar4eva] 13/5/2016 19:15

You said it was noise - not that it is not going to happen. Perhaps an idea to read what you have written?

[blondeamon] 13/5/2016 18:35

What part of not happening you didn't get?

[allstar4eva] 13/5/2016 18:01

You really think the potential for a break up of a multi-decade free movement of people, goods and services agreement is noise? I am not stating a position for the stay campaign but in the event of brexit you would expect some short term pain not noise!

[mrx9000] 13/5/2016 17:23

CPR chart looks like further lows on the horizon... with results coming out and Neptune still dumping, the time to buy is not now imo. Averaging down is a game that I don't play.

[allstar4eva] 13/5/2016 17:08

You may be right on share. May bounce strong and quick. But Brexit is a tad more than noise IMHO...

[allstar4eva] 13/5/2016 17:08

Brexit is noise? Lol

[blondeamon] 13/5/2016 17:06

I prefer to buy when everyone is selling, not the opposite. These are as low as they've been in past 5 years and company better than ever. I'm hoping the market will realise this after a few updates and a dividend.

Brexit is just noise, will not pass and then back to normal.

[allstar4eva] 13/5/2016 16:25

Also averaging down into a downtrend is a particularly dangerous move with a brexit vote weeks away...