In 2019, the economic return stood at 8.1% compared to 7.4% in 2018, while the profitability of stable resources
The financial rate of return recovered to 2.1%, thanks to the increase in the net profit margin.
Capital productivity continued to increase in 2019, approaching the 14% mark. This performance is cofollowing the
increase in the rate of value added by +1.4 percentage points.
Gross business investment for the 2019 financial year fell overall by –23.6% compared to the year
In the wake of this, the investment rate, which relatesinvestment to value added, fell to 56.7%, i.e.
–21.9 points compared to 2018.
The analysis of the main balances of companies’ balance sheets shows a negative net cash position in 2019, following a
cash surplusin 2018.
Corporate debt, assessed by the financial independence ratio, which relates financial debts to capital
represented 1.3 times shareholders’ equity in 2019.
The broader debt ratio, which relatestotal debt to equity, fell slightly to 5.3 from 5.9
in 2018. Corporate debt is more than 70% of short-term debts.