- Profits recovering strongly post pandemic.
- Strong visibility of future earnings.
- Earnings upgrade cycle.
During the Covid-19 pandemic the use of external finance by smaller businesses hit new highs, supported by the Covid-19 emergency loan schemes. It helped many of the UK’s 5.5mn smaller and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to manage and even grow during that time.
However, smaller businesses have moved from one challenge to another as the economy emerged from lockdowns. Macroeconomic uncertainty, high energy prices, inflationary pressures and a stagnant domestic economy are just some of the issues that SMEs have had to contend with in the past two years. Access to external finance is another as it remains an important resource for these businesses as they navigate through uncertain times.
