OREANDA-NEWS.  November 27, 2013. About a third of SEB’s business clients from Tartu County estimate a proper growth in turnover in 2014, as indicated in the survey “Tartu County Business Barometer 2014”, conducted among our business clients in the county.

“Although the survey results indicate a higher level of caution than previously, the enterprises in Tartu County have rather bold turnover and investment prognoses for the next year. If according to data from 2011, enterprises in Tartu County mainly invested in equipment (47 per cent), followed by investments in buildings (31 per cent), then next year real estate sector enterprises are the most optimistic about investments and turnover growth. A quarter of the surveyed enterprises are planning to start or expand export activities, which matches the trend of the past five years, in which the number of exporters in Tartu County has increased by 27 per cent,” commented Riho Unt, Chairman of the Management Board of SEB Pank.

Next year, 29 per cent of 140 enterprises that were surveyed in Tartu County estimate a turnover growth of more than 15 per cent, i.e. three per cent less than this year. Property development and management enterprises are the most optimistic.

Export prospects seem to be more modest when compared to the present year: instead of 37 per cent, only 24 per cent of the enterprises are planning on entering new export markets or expanding their activities on existing export markets. In Tartu County, the exporters primarily include enterprises from the industrial and energy sectors as well as from the transport and logistics sectors.

Thirty-four per cent of Tartu County enterprises plan investments of over EUR 30,000, while in the survey a year ago the number was 54 per cent of enterprises, whereas similarly to turnover estimates, the real estate sector is most optimistic.

Sixteen per cent of the enterprises surveyed in Tartu County are planning on creating new jobs, which means the addition of 109 new jobs in the county. The industry and energy sector is the most active creator of new jobs.

Thirty-two per cent of the enterprises in Tartu County plan innovation activities next year, whereas the industry and energy sector is the most active. At the same time, knowing that only about 10 per cent of enterprises invest in training their employees or developing the enterprise makes one cautious.

This autumn, SEB conducted its second counselling programme across Estonia, in the framework of which representatives from the bank visited 900 Estonian small and medium-sized enterprises in 15 counties to help them prepare a financial analysis for next year.

As part of this counselling project SEB also compiled a survey, called the Business Barometer, which was to map out the entrepreneurs’ expectations for the year 2014. The entrepreneurs assessed future turnover developments, changes in the number of staff, export and innovation plans, and proposed investments in their companies in 2014.