French business sentiment improved markedly in December, according to a survey of around 450 small- and medium-sized companies by BNP Paribas Lease Group and Agence France-Presse.
The BPLG/AFP indicator of sentiment in the French small and medium-sized business sector rose to 13 in December from 2 the previous month.
The indicator is based on business leaders' responses on sales, profitability, employment trends, and the outlook for their company and industry.
The small and medium-sized business sector, which covers companies with between 6 and 200 employees, accounts for 45 per cent of total French employment.
The indicator is based on a scale under which 0 equates to the historic low point reached in 1993 and 100 equates to the high reached in 2000.
All of the survey's sub-indices recorded increases in December, led by a surge in the Investment indicator to 22 from 8, an increase of 14 points that almost entirely made up for the steep drop seen in November.
