Analytics, Business, Construction, Latvia, Lithuania, Markets and Companies, Real Estate

Business sentiment in the Latvian construction sector, meanwhile, has remained pessimistic since mid-2014. It slightly improved during the last quarter, rising 2.8 percentage points, but still remained pessimistic, at 48.69 points.

In Lithuania, builders have been showing much more optimism, as the value of the index there reached 54.59 points.

Latvian manufacturers, meanwhile, regained optimism, as the index rose to 50.15 points. In previous quarters, the manufacturers’ mood, like in other sectors, had stayed in the negative zone, below 50 points.

During the last quarter, the Latvian manufacturers’ sentiment improved, growing by 2.5 points.

In Lithuania, producers are significantly less upbeat than in Latvia as the index there is in the negative territory, at 49.71 points.

As for the services sector, Lithuania’s services providers are fairly optimistic (52.06 points) and services providers in Lithuania are almost optimistic (49.98 points). Retailers in both Lithuania (48.85 points) and Latvia (46.83 points) the most pessimistic. In Latvia, retailers’ sentiment deteriorated by 1.5 percentage points, while services providers’ mood improved by 1.1 percentage points.

Latvian businesses with foreign capital are in the optimism territory (above 50 points), as their sentiment improved by 0.6 percentage points over the quarter to 53.47 points.

The mood of businesses with local capital improved by 1.4 percentage points, but still remained in the negative territory, at 49.31 points.

For businesses with mixed capital (including both local and foreign money), the index added 0.1 points to 48.74 points.

The Citadele Index is based on a survey of business executives, representing firms of different sizes doing business in different industries.