Business leaders forecast decrease in revenue

MOST business leaders who participated in a recent survey are forecasting a decrease in revenue as a direct result of the Covid-19 and restrictions, according to the PNG Business Council.
The survey revealed that businesses will see a decrease in net profit.
Council president Nuni Kulu said the survey, in which 900 businesses were contacted but only about 300 responded to, was on market conditions during the Covid-19 state of emergency, focusing on the period from March to May.
The response was received from 20 sectors in 10 provinces.
“The intention is to inform the businesses and the Government of credible data from businesses,” she said.
“We all need to work together to improve the market conditions we are currently in.
“The majority of the business leaders surveyed forecast a decrease in their revenue and net profit (by) as much as 50 per cent in their businesses.”
Executive director Douveri Henao said: “When we speak about revenue, we talk about the state of an income, before the declaration of profit.
“What that means is that there’s a 75 per cent reduction in the cash coming in. In terms of profit, after paying all the necessary taxes and all other expenditure, there is also a 70 per cent reduction.
“These numbers are a direct result of the restrictions that happened (from) late March to throughout April.”
Henao said “66 per cent of those businesses can operate in one year only in the current environment”.
“That’s a significant amount of businesses that do not have a positive outlook if the current operating environment remains as in the period when we gathered the data,” Henao said.