German small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) are considerably more sceptical about their future financing parameters than their foreign peers, according to a new four-country study by Siemens Financial Services in cooperation with F.A.Z.-Institut and the University of Augsburg.
The study, which compared the balance sheets and interviewed financial decision makers from more than 500 companies with a turnover of over Ђ50 million in Germany, UK, France and the United States, found that 63% of the German respondents expect corporate financing conditions to worsen in the coming years. The respective ratio for UK and the United States was just 12%, and 23% for France.
