FRANKFURT, Feb 2 (Reuters) – Euro zone firms expect revenues to keep rising this quarter but profitability is taking a hit, the European Central Bank’s quarterly Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises showed on Monday.
A net 18% of surveyed firms remained optimistic about turnover developments in the next quarter but a net 10% of them are reporting lower profits, the ECB said in a statement.
On prices, firms’ expectations did not change much. They expected their selling prices to rise by 2.9% on average over the next 12 months, the same as three months earlier, while inflation expectations for the year ahead rose to 2.6% from 2.5%.
(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi, Editing by Aidan Lewis)
