Economic and financial performance of Spanish firms in 2020 and 2021 according to the Central Balance Sheet Data Office

Abstract

This article describes the economic and financial performance of Spanish non-financial corporations in 2020, a year marked by the impact of COVID-19. According to the information available in the Central Balance Sheet Data Office integrated database, the crisis severely affected activity, causing a sharp decline in turnover and profitability, albeit with very uneven effects across sectors. There was also a deterioration of many firms’ financial position, caused by both rising debt and, to a larger extent, falling revenue. Firms were able to meet the greater liquidity needs without any widespread strains. In fact, easier access to external financing allowed firms, on average, to increase their liquidity buffers as a precautionary measure. More recent developments are also analysed on the basis of Central Balance Sheet Data Office Quarterly Survey (CBQ) data for the first three quarters of 2021. This period has seen a gradual improvement in firms’ economic and financial position that has partially reversed last year’s deterioration, in line with the economic recovery. The article includes two boxes. The first analyses the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on average supplier payment and customer collection periods. The second analyses recent developments in activity drawing on other statistical sources with a more extensive or representative coverage of the corporate sector than the CBQ.