The willingness of large companies to invest has become more predictable

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 02. 26. 11:20

Large companies have reported significant changes in their willingness to invest. According to the K&H Large Company Growth Index data for the last quarter of 2024, the proportion of companies that do not plan to change the amount of their investments has increased significantly, with nearly four-fifths of them thinking this way. This is significant because although the proportion of companies showing an increasing willingness to invest has been continuously decreasing since the summer of 2024, the proportion of those counting on an unchanged volume has never been so high in the past four years. Among the investment goals, technological developments are the most popular among large companies, with one in five companies planning to do so.

Significant changes can be observed in the willingness to invest of domestic large companies, according to research data from the K&H Large Company Growth Index, which provides an overview of the economic situation and prospects of large companies, for the last quarter of last year. The proportion of company managers who expect investment to decrease over the next year has decreased significantly, with one in nine currently expecting this. At the same time, the proportion of companies that do not plan to change the level of their investments has increased significantly, with nearly four-fifths thinking this way, which represents an increase of about 15 percentage points.

At the sector level, this change is most noticeable in trade, where the proportion of those expecting investment to decrease has decreased to 6 percent, while one in ten company managers expects growth. The proportion of those planning stagnation is similarly high among service providers, but twice as many expect a downward trend in the volume of investments. Expectations are most balanced in industry: roughly one-sixth expect a decrease or increase, while the others do not expect any significant change.

“The data from the previous quarter shows that in the fall, company leaders were even more divided in their expectations for the future – the number of those planning a decrease or increase was much higher, and nearly two-thirds of companies expected the rate to remain unchanged. In just three months, their share increased to nearly 80 percent, which suggests that large companies continue to consider waiting as the most appropriate option when it comes to investments,”

Tibor Bodor, head of the K&H Corporate Division, said in connection with the results.