Firms expect business situation to worsen in Q3: survey

Retail, accommodation and food services, and real estate sectors are bracing for the worse.

The number of businesses expecting their business situation to worsen in Q3 went up to 17% compared to previous expectations for Q2, according to data from the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD).

The same survey found that only 9% of the 560 respondents expect their business situation to be better in Q3 compared to Q2.

Previously, the proportion of respondents expecting their business situation to worsen in Q2 went up by 13% compared to numbers from Q1.

In particular, more respondents in the retail, accommodation and food services, and real estate sectors expect their business situation to be worse in Q3 than in Q2. Of the sectors surveyed, only the information and communications sector has more respondents project their business situation to improve.

Also read: Hong Kong retail sales to dip 5% in 2019: PwC

More businesses are also expecting their volume of business/output to decrease in Q3 compared to Q2. In particular, more respondents in the retail sector expect their volume of sales to decrease, as compared to those expecting it to increase. On the other hand, more respondents from the information and communications sector expect their volume of business to increase that decrease.

The survey also covered employments, with more sectors projecting an increase on balance in Q3 compared to Q2. More respondents in the accommodation and food services and construction sectors expect their employment to increase, whilst slightly more respondents in the import/export trade and wholesale sector expect their employment to decrease.

C&SD surveyed senior management in various sectors of Hong Kong, including manufacturing; construction; import/export trade and wholesale; retail; accommodation and food services (mainly covering services rendered by hotels and restaurants); transportation, storage and courier services; information and communications; financing and insurance; real estate; and professional and business services sectors.

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