According to the March report of the German Business Panel (GBP), expected sales and profits as well as planned investments plummeted as the war started and are currently even lower as during the last lockdowns. The indirect consequences, in particular higher energy costs and interrupted global supply chains, are a financial burden for the companies. Only 19 percent of the companies stated that they are not affected by the effects of the war and the sanctions policy. Despite this enormous burden, more than 60 percent of the companies support the sanctions policy of the federal government.
The German Business Panel at the University of Mannheim asks companies in Germany daily what changes they expect with regard to sales, profits, and investments. The current data, collected in March, show that the war in Ukraine has a considerable impact on the companies’ key business figures. Expected sales and planned investments have plummeted after the war has started. In addition, companies now also expect a decrease in profits in 2022 (-3.1 percent on average). Until mid-February, the expectations had recovered significantly in light of the interim decline of Covid-19 infection rates.