Las ventas PYME bajaron un 10,5% interanual
La Confederación Argentina de Medianas Empresas (CAME) reporta una caída interanual del 10,5% en las ventas de pymes durante agosto de 2023. Este descenso se suma a una baja acumulada del 16,2% desde el inicio del año. Los sectores más afectados incluyen perfumerías y farmacias, con los jubilados enfrentando dificultades para acceder a medicamentos esenciales. Los empresarios piden reducciones en impuestos provinciales y nacionales para aliviar la situación.
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00:00The Argentine Confederation of Medium-Sized Enterprises, and we are talking about this,
00:03the PYMES sales that fell by 10.5% year-on-year in August, of course, compared to 2023,
00:08a 1.6% less than the previous month, which is July, and also an accumulation of 16.2%.
00:15Now we are going to review which are the most affected areas, among them the pharmacy,
00:20and we are also going to talk about the retirees, but of course, the owners of small and medium-sized companies
00:24that say we need to lower provincial taxes, national taxes, and municipal rates.
00:30I was telling you, it has accumulated a 16.2% decline since this 2024 began,
00:36and I want to review in the next tab what are the factors that matter most to the owners of the PYMES,
00:43what is what generates a greater challenge.
00:45Well, 54.4% of the total says that what worries them the most is the lack of sales,
00:51which is well accompanied, of course, by inflation and the economic context that we are living.
00:56The 29.4%, the high production and logistics costs, the 8.4%, already a little less than the previous one,
01:03the main obstacles are linked to being able to access the credits and the requirements
01:08that are requested for these credits, precisely, and already much less, the 4.1%, but not less important,
01:15the problems linked to charging.
01:17Now, let's go to the most affected areas.
01:20The first is perfumeries, last month the same thing happened,
01:23the 29.3% with an increase of 5%, the most affected.
01:29Then the pharmacies, which was what Rolando was telling you about a while ago.
01:33Of course, the retirees now that they cannot access the medicines, they have to choose
01:37if they buy those medicines or if they have dinner or if they eat.
01:39Look, in the areas that you put, the three areas are things that one can dispense with,
01:45and maybe things like cleaning, you can fix it,
01:48shoe polish, you can spend less, you can change the brand,
01:54shoe polish and decoration, and you have to change a piece of furniture,
01:57and no, you kick it forward.
01:59Shoe polish and Marroquineria, it is also known that it has returned,
02:03there is a boom of workshops and shoe shops that fix what was thrown away before.
02:09Now, pharmacies that reduce the consumption of medicines,
02:13this is a new fact that has to do with an Argentine particularity.
02:17Yes, Rolo, and it has nothing to do with choosing the medicine and eating dinner,
02:20which was what you mentioned, not only with that,
02:21but the retirees begin to generalize the purchase of medicines.
02:25I say, well, what is the pathology or disease that at this moment is the one that worries me the most?
02:29Can I buy these medicines?
02:31Let's remember that almost 96% of retirees are hypertensive,
02:35with what comes out the medication linked to that.
02:37And then, if we say shoe polish and decoration,
02:399.3%, shoe polish and Marroquineria with 5.4%.
02:44Well, it gives us a total of precisely this drop of 10.5% in minorities sales.
02:49Salvador Femenías, spokesman for CAME,
02:52and I want to ask you, what else is behind these numbers?
02:55Because there was Aguinaldo, there was a return of quotas with cards,
03:01and it seems that the drop in consumption continues as a sustained trend.
03:05Good morning, how are you doing?
03:07Good morning, Rolando, how are you?
03:10Did Aguinaldo move a little the ammeter of consumption or nothing happened?
03:17It was not noticed, because we are suffering very pronounced interannual drops,
03:23even in the month of August, within the medicine that you were commenting,
03:28there was also the Child's Day,
03:30which apparently paled a little the drop of what was shoe polish and Marroquineria,
03:35which moved a little during those days and then did not have much movement,
03:40but in general we have a sustained drop.
03:43What you commented on the issue of pharmacies,
03:46comes from the last few months of last year,
03:50falling in important proportions,
03:54with respect to other areas.
03:56It is true that in pharmacies one is not going to buy only remedies,
03:59that many times, I don't know if they can have the disaggregation
04:03of what is perfumery and what is pharmacy,
04:05but it is also seen, because when one goes out to the street and asks the retirees,
04:09the retirees tell you, look, you had to buy three medicines,
04:11I'm buying two, there is a drop in medicines.
04:15Yes, but we have it disaggregated, Rolando,
04:17that's why we measure perfumeries apart,
04:22so as not to mix them.
04:23That is, even when one goes to a pharmacy chain
04:26and goes to buy, sometimes you can buy shampoo and remedies,
04:28that is, they have it disaggregated.
04:30We have it disaggregated and what has fallen
04:34is the sale of non-prescribed remedies,
04:36the free-sale ones too,
04:38and apart there is selectivity
04:40and we have also bought,
04:42or it has been manifested to us,
04:44that there is a partition of recipes,
04:48to say, well, I buy this that I can now,
04:51later I see if I buy the rest.
04:53What about textiles?
04:55Because a classic of Alberto Fernández's years
04:58was that after the pandemic,
05:00textiles were still rising, always more than inflation,
05:02but there was a more or less sustained demand.
05:06What is happening with textiles now?
05:08Well, textiles are the only rubric
05:10that during the year has a positive accumulation,
05:122.1%.
05:14That is explained above all
05:16by the first months of the year,
05:18which within the very abrupt general fall,
05:20textile and clothing
05:22remained at positive levels,
05:24but we are comparing
05:26with a year of 2023
05:28that was very bad
05:31in these months that we are living,
05:33because after the pandemic
05:35and after the logical rebound
05:37of the exit of the restrictions,
05:39it really had a very strong impact
05:41on prices,
05:43especially because of the lack
05:45of imported goods
05:47or imported supplies
05:49and the cost of the fleets
05:51which was also a bottleneck,
05:53the international fleets
05:55after the pandemic.
05:57The inventory in Argentina
05:59has a cost
06:01that is expensive for people
06:03and we have a very expensive inventory.
06:05Yes, but it is very expensive
06:07compared to any other part of the world.
06:09The incidence of what the clothing costs
06:11in the wage percentage
06:13is infinitely higher here
06:15than anywhere else in the world.
06:17The imports, this thing that the government
06:19allowed some surfaces
06:21to bring imports,
06:23does it already feel that it is lowering prices
06:25or not yet?
06:28There are promotions within the sector
06:30like all sectors,
06:32but not so much
06:34due to the influence of imports.
06:36To some extent it may be,
06:38but it is not decisive.
06:42What we do have,
06:44even if it is imported goods,
06:46in the consumption taxes
06:48are very high.
06:50It has a very important
06:52income,
06:54more than 50% of some products
06:56among all that is the sum of national,
06:58provincial and municipal taxes.
07:00By the way,
07:02we are seeing that
07:04the municipalities are increasing
07:06the rates that directly impact
07:08on the gross profitability
07:10of the trade.
07:12Do you see layoffs coming
07:14on the horizon?
07:16We know that this always happens,
07:18it is sustained, it is sustained,
07:20that at some point,
07:22whether it is small factories
07:24or employees,
07:26what do you see on that horizon?
07:28Do you see layoffs coming?
07:30Look, we still don't see it
07:32and we have a feature
07:34as a SME sector,
07:36especially that the composition
07:38of the number of companies,
07:40most of them are micro SMEs,
07:42between 1 and 15 employees
07:44and really there is a tendency,
07:46there is a very strong attitude
07:48to maintain the workforce
07:50because there is an investment
07:53in training and training,
07:55there is a different relationship
07:57with the employer
07:59with respect to the large company
08:01and obviously another type
08:03of tool is taken into account,
08:05such as lowering the schedule
08:07or some days yes, some not.
08:09It is about taking that tool
08:11so as not to have to fire.
08:13For now, within the SME sector,
08:15layoffs are the lowest.
08:17Obviously, when you see
08:19the number of layoffs there are,
08:21it is partly explained
08:23by the construction,
08:25which really stopped strongly
08:27everything that is public work
08:29and private construction
08:31and in large companies they also
08:33make a determination
08:35in a different way than SMEs.
08:37Yes, I wanted to ask you
08:39if today, in this sharp drop
08:41in consumption,
08:43businesses are promo-dependent
08:45and if that is not a double-edged sword
08:47because I see family organization,
08:50everyone knows their schedule,
08:52what is the day that I have
08:54in such a section with such a card,
08:56how does the rest of the day proceed?
08:58Total ironing.
09:00Let's see,
09:02we have above all
09:04in the main section,
09:06which is food and beverages,
09:08which we can say is basic consumption,
09:10we have a demand for large surfaces
09:12because those promotions
09:14and offers have more possibility
09:16of these surfaces
09:18of steel and not so much
09:20the near market,
09:22which is what we represent.
09:24There is an attitude
09:26of trying
09:28not to increase,
09:30to continue absorbing costs,
09:32but this has a limit
09:34because we have a very high profitability,
09:36above all, I tell you,
09:38because of the issue of taxes,
09:40gross income and municipal rates
09:42that directly impact gross profitability
09:44regardless of whether we have utility or not.
09:46There is a tendency to make
09:48some offer, some promotion,
09:50but very small and not on the scale
09:52that the large surface has.