​Author: Constantin Măgdălina, Emerging Trends and Technologies Expert

Did you know that industrial production companies expect lower turnover in 2019 than in 2018? Or that 11% of construction and real estate firms will not increase investments in 2019? On the other hand, trading companies continue to grow this year, albeit at a moderate pace. And all this in a year when Romania's economy is estimated to grow by 5.5%. 

About these industries, as well as those of agriculture and food, information technology and professional services, Valoria has conducted the study Business Outlook in Romania. The six selected industries are the ones best represented in the sample of 575 respondents from the 14 industries surveyed between February and March 2019. The results of the survey in the first part of the year are as follows:

Industrial production

20% of companies expect turnover increases between 5%-10% in 2019 compared to 34% in 2018 and 23% in 2017. 23% of companies expect their profit growth rate to be 1%-5% in 2019 compared to 30% in 2018 and 35% in 2017. 13% of companies want to increase their investment by 5%-10% in 2019, compared with 23% in 2018 and 32% in the previous year. 24% say they expect their staff to grow by 1%-5% this year, compared with 35% in 2018 and 55% in 2017. 33% expect salary growth to rise by only 5% to 10% in 2019 compared to 36% in 2018 and 48% in 2017.

Construction and real estate

24% of companies expect turnover growth between 5%-10% in 2019 compared to the same figure in 2018 and 33% in 2017. 40% of companies expect their profit growth rate to be 5 %-10% in 2019 compared to 38% a year before and 50% in 2017. 11% of companies do not want to increase their investments in 2019 compared to 20% in the previous year, but 0% in 2017. 21% say they expect their staff not to grow this year, compared with 27% in 2018 and 17% in 2017. 40% expect salary levels to grow by only 1%-5% in 2019 compared to 43% a year before and 33% in 2017.

Retail and wholesale trade

23% of companies expect turnover growth between 1%-5% in 2019 compared to 25% in 2018 and 31% in 2017. 25% of companies expect their growth rate to be 1%-5% in 2019, compared with 31% in 2018 and 39% in 2017. 19% of companies want to increase their investments by 1%-5% in 2019 compared to 23% in the previous year and 31% in 2017. 29% say they expect their staff to grow by 1%-5% in 2019, compared with 35% in 2018 and 38% in 2017. 46% expect salaries to rise by only 5%-10% in 2019, compared with 34% a year before and 46% in 2017.

Agriculture and food

17% of companies expect turnover growth between 5%-10% in 2019, compared with 22% in 2018 and 40% in 2017. 12% of companies expect their profit growth rate to be 10 % -20% in 2019 compared to 19% in 2018 and 20% in 2017. 23% of companies want to increase their investment by 10% -20% in 2019, compared with 25% in the previous year and 40% in 2017. 20% say they expect their staff not to grow this year, compared with 31% in 2018 and 20% in 2017. 28% expect salaries to rise by only 5% -10% in 2019, compared to 31% one year ahead and 80% in 2017.

Information technology

24% of companies expect turnover growth between 10%-20% in 2018 compared to 22% in 2017. 33% of companies expect their profit growth rate to be between 5% and 10% in 2018 compared with 11% a year earlier. 38% of companies want to increase their investment by 1%-5% in 2018 compared to 22% in the previous year. 24% say they expect their staff to grow by 1%-5% this year, compared with 11% in 2017. 43% expect wages to rise by only 5%-10% in 2018 compared to 44% a year before.

Professional services

33% of companies expect turnover growth between 5%-10% in 2018 compared to 28% in 2017. 34% of companies expect their profit growth rate to be between 1% and 5% in 2018 compared to 41% a year earlier. 33% of companies want to increase their investments by 1%-5% in 2018 compared to 23% in the previous year. 35% say they expect their staff to grow by 1%-5% this year, compared with 35% in 2017. 31% expect wages to rise by only 1%-5% in 2018 compared to 18 % a year before.

This is the picture of the business sentiment for these six industry sectors in the first semester of this year. It is the snapshot of a dynamic reality on which we will find out more about in the second  edition for this year of the Valoria survey "Business Outlook in Romania in 2019".       

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About Constantin Măgdălina

Constantin Măgdălina has 9 years of working experience, while he performed in multinationals both in Romania and abroad. Constantin has a master’s degree in Marketing and Business Communication at the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest. He is certified Lean Six Sigma and ITIL which provide him a good understanding of processes and transformations within organizations. The Chartered Institute of Marketing certification furthered on complemented his expertise and knowledge in business. In those over 4 years working activity in a Big4 company, he initiated and conducted studies which analyzed different aspects related to the business environment in Romania such as the economic growth predictions of companies in 2013-2016, knowledge management, the buying experience in the age of digital consumers, social media 2013-2015, the utilization of mobile devices in Romania. He is the author of numerous articles on topics related to innovation, the efficiency of business processes, social media, the consumers’ buying experience in the age of digital, trends and emergent technologies. He is invited as a speaker at numerous events and business conferences.