The health index of small and medium-sized Russian businesses decreased by 10% in the third quarter

The health index of small Russian businesses at the end of the third quarter amounted to 55 points, decreasing by 11% in annual terms, as calculated by experts from the omnichannel marketing platform Calltouch, Tochka Bank and the online recruiting platform hh.ru. Their research is based on data on the activities (revenue, vacancies, salaries) of 500 thousand micro, small and medium-sized companies in 20 different industries.

Despite the overall decline in the index, the positive changes noted in the first half of the year remain: company turnover in the third quarter increased by an average of 8%, the number of open vacancies increased by 45%, and median wages increased by 20% to 63.3 thousand roubles. per month.

Among the industries that influenced the overall decline in the index are the cultural sector (minus 13 compared to the third quarter of last year, 45 points), medicine (minus 15, down to 56 points) and construction (minus 17, down to 57). The fastest growing industries were mechanical engineering (its health index added 5 points, increasing to 62 points), advertising (plus 12, up to 46) and transport (plus 17, up to 67 points). The drivers of mechanical engineering growth were the departure of foreign manufacturers, rapidly growing domestic demand, increased government investment and the introduction of modern technologies. In the third quarter, the number of registered companies in this industry was twice as high as the number of liquidations, enterprise turnover decreased by 3%, and the number of open vacancies was one and a half times higher than last year, experts said.

The recovery of the advertising market was facilitated by the emergence of new brands, the resumption of work of some departed companies and the growth of advertising budgets. The improvement of the situation with long-distance cargo transportation was facilitated by the reorientation of supplies to the East and an increase in trade turnover with the PRC, Kazakhstan, and Turkey. The development of e-commerce, marketplaces, and demand from sellers (suppliers of goods to marketplaces) for fulfillment services (a range of logistics services) ensured growth in the LTL (modified cargo transportation) and 3PL (full range of logistics services) segments. At the same time, the turnover of logistics companies increased by only 12%, which indicates the limit of transport flows – there may be an excess of transportation capacity on the market, Tochka Bank warns.

Venera Petrova