Following a significant setback in September, business sentiment in the German print and media industry rose slightly again in October 2024. At 89.8 points, the index in October was around 2.2 per cent above the previous year’s level. While companies assessed their current situation better in October, business expectations for the next six months continued to deteriorate.
The seasonally and calendar-adjusted business situation index rose by around 4.4 per cent compared to the previous month. With an index value of 84.3, it is around 2.5 per cent higher than the corresponding value from June 2022. Around 8 per cent of respondents rated the current business situation as positive. Around 60 per cent gave a neutral assessment, while around 32 per cent rated the business situation as negative. In October, 71 per cent of the companies surveyed stated that they were affected by obstacles to production. There was a slight increase in the lack of orders, which is the biggest production restriction with a share of 54 per cent. The proportion of companies reporting a restriction in production due to a lack of skilled labour also increased to 37%. In addition, the comparatively low capacity utilisation of around 76.3% on average for the sector remains a key problem for companies. The secured order backlog in months fell from 2.4 months in October 2023 to 1.8 months in October 2024.
Expectations regarding the development of the business situation for the coming six months continued their decline from the previous month. At 95.6 points, the seasonally and calendar-adjusted index recorded a decline of around 3.3 per cent, but was still around 1.9 per cent above the previous year’s figure. Around 57 per cent of companies forecast that the business situation will remain the same, while around 8 per cent expect it to improve and around 35 per cent expect it to deteriorate. Expectations regarding the development of employment figures are also clearly in the red with a balance of around -26 points. With regard to the development of sales prices in the next three months, 86 per cent forecast no change. Only around 2 per cent of companies expect prices to rise, while around 12 per cent expect prices for printed products and services to fall.
BVDM
The Bundesverband Druck und Medien e. V. (bvdm) is the umbrella organisation of the German printing industry. As an employers’ organisation, political business association and technical trade association, it represents the positions and objectives of the printing industry vis-à-vis politicians, administration, trade unions and the supplier industry. The bvdm is supported by eight regional associations. Internationally, it is organised through its membership of Intergraf and FESPA. The printing industry currently comprises around 6,500 predominantly small and medium-sized companies with more than 106,000 employees subject to social security contributions.
