Chamber of Commerce COVID 19 impact Survey (take 3)

April 2021

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IA CHAMBER UC O L T.

ND AGRICUL TU YA TR

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RCE IN MME DU S CO

The St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture

COVID-19 IMPACT SURVEY (TAKE 3)

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MBBE IACCHHAAM ERR UCCIA OO .LLU TT.

Background

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The Chamber has concluded its third Covid-19 Impact Survey

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(Take 3). The Survey was segmented into key areas to assess the impact of Covid-19 on; business operations, employment levels and related changes, as well as perspectives on sustainability.

As always the Survey results are presented with minimal editorializing to allow the reader to interpret the information provided for themselves. This series of surveys, seeks to provide indicative information, not just for government policymakers, but also to business people keen on getting a sense of the emerging business and economic environment. Moreover, the information also provides the Chamber with some clear imperatives that have

Brian Louisy Executive Director, St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture

emerged and will help the Chamber effectively respond.

This Covid 19 Impact Survey (Take 3) looks more closely at how firms sought to adapt in response to the economic impact of Covid 19. This makes interesting reading as we also take a look at this issue from the sectoral and size angle. This summary or snap shot is being made available to the general public while the more detailed break down and analysis will be available only to members of the Chamber of Commerce.

page 1

Sector & Size Distribution of Respondents

Agriculture

35% Membership Response Rate

Insurance Construction Banking & Finance Distribution Retail Manufacturing

52%

Tourism Other Services 0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Increase in total Number of Respondents

50% Respondents who are Small Business

1-9 employees

34%

40% New

34%

10-19 employees

20-35 employees

8%

16%

36-49 employees

8% Over 50 employees

Respondents

67% Respondents who are members of the Chamber of Commerce

page 2

Trading Status

No. Operations have never stopped Yes temporarily stopped but will be back in operation by Feb 2021

60%

Yes temporarily stopped but currently running again Yes permanently stopped

Respondents from the

Other

construction sector

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

never stopped operations

50% Respondents from large firms never stopped

40% of respondents indicated that they have never stopped operations. Captured in the responses of Other, include changes in government stipulated protocols as well as the uncertainty in the Tourism Industry.

operations

Business Response to Economic Conditions Business Is Back To Normal Operations

Increased Online Presence

13% 55% 42% 11% 32%

Instituted Greater Use of Technology to Reduce Cost

19%

Instituted Technology to Productivity

26% 21%

Closed a Physical Location

Cut Back on Opertaing Expenditure Decreased Hours of Operations Diversified Goods and Services

50% Respondents from

11%

Other

manufacturing sector employed technology to

More than half of respondents (55%) indicated that they have cut

reduce cost

back on their operating expenditure as a result of this pandemic.

The Other response include focusing on developing export markets, not currently in operations, government imposed restrictions and work from home or rotation approaches.

page 3

Impact on Operations

October - December 2020

out of

Revenues

Workforce

Sales

45 36 27

Respondents reported decline in revenue and sales

18 9 0

83% Small business reported declined revenue

80%

None

- 0% to -20%

respondents indicated that there was no change in the workforce whereas an equal percentage reported a decrease of less than 20% in their workforce.

Anticipated Impact on Operations Revenues 45%

Sales

Workforce

41%

40% 32%

30%

29% 30%

27% 24%

25%

19% 20%

20%

15% 15% 10%

12%

11%

9% 4% 8% 6% 4% 4% 4%

5%

decline in sales in the first

Don’t Know

dents saw a decrease in revenue of between 20% to 50%. 35% of

35%

Respondents anticipate a

Increase

decrease in revenues of less than 20%. Whereas 28.8% of respon-

decline in revenue in the

76%

-50% to -100%

For the period October – December, 30.5% of respondents saw a

Respondents anticipate a first quarter of 2021

-20% to -50%

0% None

-0% to -20%

-20% to -50%

-50% to -100%

increase

don’t know

quarter of 2021

62% of respondents anticipate a decline in revenue of less than

50%

50% with 32% anticipating declines of less than 20% and 30% anticipated declines of between 20% and 50% for the period January to March 2021. 29% of respondents anticipate a

Respondents anticipate a

decrease in Sales of less than 20%, while another 20% anticipate

decline in workforce in the

decline in sales of between 50% to 100%. A high of 41% do not

first quarter of 2021

expect a change in their workforce numbers. page 4

Comparative Business Performance

45% 40% 34%

35% 29%

30%

29%

26% 25%

23% 21%

20% 15%

81%

10%

9% 8% 7%

8%

5% 0% None

-0% to -20%

Respondents reported

-20% to -50%

Sales

-50% to -100%

increase

Revenue

lower sales in 2020 as compared to 2019

In comparison to the same period (2019), 26% of respondents indicated that they experienced a decrease in Sales of less than

91% Respondents reported lower revenue in 2020 as compared to 2019

20%. 34% of respondents indicated they experienced a decrease in sales of between 20% to 50%. An additional 21% indicated they experienced a decrease in sales of between 50% and 100%.

Only 7% reported an increase in sales.

Concurrently, 29% experienced a decrease in revenue of between 0% to 20%, 29% experienced a decrease of between 20% to 50% and 23% experienced a decrease of between 50% to 100%.

Workforce October- December 2020 60%

54%

50% 40%

92% Respondents from Retail & Distribution sector

30% 17%

20% 10%

14%

7%

8%

0% 0%

1-20%

20-50%

50-75%

75-100%

employ 75%-100% of their workforce

54% of respondents indicated that they currently employ between 75% to 100% of their usual Workforce. page 5

Salary Levels

70% 60%

60%

50%

33.7%

40% 30%

Respondents from

20%

manufacturing sector

16%

12%

9%

10%

have employed salary

0%

reductions

4% 0%

1- 20%

20%- 50%

50%- 75%

75%- 100%

60% of respondents indicated that currently no Salary reductions are being employed in their firms.

Workforce Levels October - December 2020 None

1% to 20%

20% to 50%

50% to 75%

75% to 100%

100

94%

90 80 70

65%

64%

60 50

40%

40

50% Respondents from tourism sector expect more redundencies

30 20 10 0

11%11% 4% Laid off

9%

21% 15%

52% 43%

45%

26%

26% 15% 11%

12%12%

4% Working at their

Working from home

normal place of

or rotation

work

4%

0% 2%

6%

0%

4%

Absent due to COVID

Made permanently

19 symptons, self

redundant

3%

0% 0%

3%

Other

isolation or quarantine

65% of respondents indicated that between October and December no one was laid off. 40% of respondents indicated that between 75% and 100% of persons operate from their usual place of work. 45% of respondents indicated that between 1% and 20% are working from home or on rotation. While 43% of respondents indicated that some staff were absent from work due to COVID-19. 64% indicated that no one was made permanently redundant. page 6

Impact of Protocols

Cost to Businesses of Implementing Safety Protocols Above 20% Increase;

19%

20% Increase;

7%

95%

47%

10%

15% Increase 10% Increase

17%

5% Increase

Respondents reported that adhering to protocols have increased operating cost by at least 5%

19 % of Survey Respondents indicated that costs of operations have increased by more than 20% due to implementing and following health and safety protocols. 17% reported costs have increased by 10%, while 47% say costs have increased by 5%.

85% Respondents implememented physical distancing measures for employees.

Limiting Number Of Customers Entering Business

72%

Enforcing Wearing Of Masks By Customers

83%

Employing Physical Distancing of Staff

85%

Employing Physical Distancing of Customers

80%

Erected Barriers Between Customers And Staff

52%

Providing Hand Sani�zer To Staff

82%

Providing Hand Sani�zer To Customers Entering Premises

82%

Protocols used

by Businesses

Capacity to Sustain Operations in Current Climate

31% Respondents don’t think they can continue operations for

Zero months

12%

1-3 months

7%

4-6 months

12%

7-9 months

14%

Over 9 months

56%

more than 6 months page 7

ND AGRICUL TU YA TR

IA CHAMBER UC O L T.

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RCE IN MME DU S CO

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