SMEs develop 6.8% in August after poor leads to June and July

In the year to August, the data show growth of 3.3% compared to the same period in 2021

The Omie SME Economic Performance Index (IODE-SMEs) of August indicates that the real financial movement of small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) Brazilians grew more significantly, after weak results in June and July.

In the last month, the IODE-SMEs shows that the average of the real financial movement of the sector increased 4.7% in comparison with the same period of the previous year. With July 2022, the index showed growth of 6.8%. In the year to August, the data show growth of 3.3% compared to the same period in 2021.

The IODE-PMEs works as an economic thermometer for companies with annual revenues of up to R$50 million, consisting of monitoring 637 economic activities that comprise five major sectors: agriculture, commerce, industry, infrastructure and services.

Although the basic interest rate remains at a high level, which penalizes the evolution of consumption and investments in the economy, the recent period has been marked by a reduction in inflationary pressures in Brazil, with emphasis on the fall in domestic prices of gasoline and diesel.

“The decline in fuel prices significantly affects all sectors of the economy, as most activities have high exposure to fuel costs. In other words, the current situation ends up favoring several entrepreneurs, who had to deal with the sharp increase in fuel prices in the country during the first half of the year”, says Felipe Beraldi, manager of indicators and economic studies at Omie.

Industry and Commerce grow

The positive result of the market in August was driven by the good performance in the sectors of Industry and Commerce.

In the first, the real financial movement of the sector advanced 15.7% in August 2022 in the annual comparison, driven by activities related to the leather, food and chemical sector, especially.

The second also stood out in the month, with growth of 10.6% compared to August 2021. In the period, the performance of the index reflected the advance seen in the retail sector, with emphasis on activities such as: ‘retail of bedding, table and bath’, ‘shoe retail’ and ‘commodity retail in general, with a predominance of food products – mini-markets, grocery stores and warehouses’.

breathlessness

Despite the growth of the general index of the SME market, there are important sectors that continue to lose steam in recent months. in the segment of Infrastructure, for example, the IODE-SMEs indicates a drop of 7.4% in real financial transactions in August in the annual comparison. The activity of the Services sector also continued to show a weakened pace in the recent period.

The Services sector holds an important share in the Brazilian small and medium-sized companies market. According to information from Sebrae, among the approximately 7 million active CNPJs of micro and small companies, about 47% are concentrated in activities related to the Services sector.

Considering the size of this sector in the Brazilian economy, the IODE-SMEs brings an alert in the last three months. Specifically in August, the real financial movement of the sector declined 2.6% year-on-yearafter a 4.5% drop observed in July.

“In fact, when we analyze the evolution of the trend in the financial movement of SMEs in Services – considering that the moving average of the index clears the series of merely seasonal fluctuations -, there is a clear loss of breath in the sector in the recent period, after results quite expressive between the second half of 2021 and the first quarter of this year”, explains Beraldi.

From the point of view of the activities that make up the Services sector, the weak results seen in recent months are concentrated in the segments of ‘Human health and social services’ and ‘Professional, scientific and technical activities’. Below-average performance of service activities linked to the ‘Transport, warehousing and mail’ sector is also observed.

Source: Exam