Aifec has published a new study on the situation of the printing industry of labels en Spain and Portugal, taking as reference the latest data deposited in the commercial register by the 170 main companies in the sector.
The results of the study, which has been supervised by the Association's Next Generation Group, show an accumulated growth in Spain in the 2010-2018 period of 40% with two differentiated cycles: the first, the exit from the crisis, between 2010 and 2013, when the growth in turnover was 1% per year; and the second, from 2013 to 2019, when growth was above 5% until 2017, and then fell by 4% in 2018 and 3% in 2019.
In terms of job growth, the figures are similar. Another characteristic of this decade is the concentration that is taking place, giving rise to the increase in the weight in the sector of those companies or groups that invoice more than seven million euros a year - and that represents more than 60% of the total industry - and the decrease in the number of companies that invoice less than three million a year.
The results of the companies have begun to decline, falling to 33% those that obtain more than 5% profit. In addition, those that make losses have risen from five to nine%. Despite this decrease in results, the sector's ebitda has remained at a high level, at 13,8%, due to the high investment made in machinery in recent years.
In Portugal, the total turnover of the companies analyzed has grown by 38% in the decade, with an average turnover of 3,3 million euros. The trend in the neighboring country is similar to that of Spain.
Situation derived from the covid-19 crisis
The data in this study do not reach March 2020, when the health and economic crisis caused by the expansion of the coronavirus broke out in Spain. However, Aifec has prepared a survey among its associates to obtain real figures on how the situation is affecting the sector.
At the moment, the label industry is managing to maintain its production at 94% of its capacity, despite increasing difficulties in deliveries and supply of the essential products it manufactures. The survey shows that companies active in the food, pharmacy, hygiene and cleaning sectors are operating at full capacity compared to other sectors. Globally, exports are the segment that has been most affected.
