French business sentiment remained stable in March compared with a month earlier, according to a survey of around 450 small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) by BNP Paribas Lease Group (BPLG) and Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The BPLG/AFP indicator of sentiment in the French SME sector came in at 21 in March, just slightly down from 22 in February.
It is based on a scale on which 0 equates to the historic low point reached in 1993 and 100 equates to the high reached in 2000.
The indicator is based on business leaders' responses on sales, profitability, employment trends, and the outlook for their company and industry.
Among component indicators, sales were flat at 19 in March, unchanged from February, while the profitability indicator rose to rose to 17 from 15 a month earlier.
The business investment indicator fell to 18 from 29 in February, and the employment indicator edged up to 31 from 26 a month earlier.
