2014 was more likely to be a good year rather than a bad one for SMEs, but the opposite is true for those in the retail sector, a survey carried out by the GRTU has found.
The 2014 Business Survey, whose findings were published today, was carried out among 202 randomly-selected GRTU members, with the sample including businesses ranging from one-man operations to others employing over 20 employees in various economic sectors.
Among other things, respondents were asked how their 2014 sales compared with 2013, and while 37% said that sales increased, 32% said that they decreased, with the remaining 31% claiming that turnover largely remained unchanged.
GRTU vice-president Marcel Mizzi, who oversaw the survey, noted that typically, the opposite was true, with SMEs more likely to say that sales were down.
But this situation persisted when only SMEs in the retail sector are considered. While just 25% reported increased sales, 40% reported a drop in turnover during 2013.
The survey's findings corroborate Eurostat statistics which were coincidentally published just today, which showed that retail sales during December 2014 fell by 1.4% when compared to the same month in the previous year. This contrasts sharply with the general trend in the Eurozone, where retail sales increase by 2.8%.
Among those who registered increased sales last year, the main reason cited - by 39% - was the development of new services or products. A further 23% credited promotional campaign, 11% cited reduced prices and 10% said that better consumer spending power was the main factor.
On the other hand, increased local competition was cited by 31% of those who registered a decrease in sales as the main contributing factor. 24% argued that the loss of sales to online shopping was the main reason, with Mr Mizzi arguing that the effect of online sales was likely underestimated by local retailers.
As a whole, SMEs are optimistic about this year, with 36% predicting that it will be better and just 17% predicting that things will do worse.
The majority of those surveyed - 57% in all - said that their plan for 2015 was to keep their business at the same size it was last year, but 31% aimed to expand their business. On the other hand, 5% planned to downsize, 2% planned to pass over their business to third parties, 2% aimed to change their line of business and 1% were planning to close shop.
Their main concerns for 2015 were unfair competition, high fuel costs and a dearth of parking places in commercial areas.
Other concerns include bureaucracy, the lack of easy access to funds and grants, and the charges levied by dominant position players, including postal charges. Mr Mizzi observed that, for instance, sending an object to the UK cost twice as much as it to bring an object from the UK, a factor which hindered the ability of Maltese traders to expand overseas.
A number of questions focused on the budget, and 40% said that their business was unaffected by yearly budgets while 56% said that the 2015 budget specifically had no effect on their trade.
But among the remainder, 29% said that the 2015 Budget affected their business negatively, nearly twice as many as the 15% who said that it left them better off.