The approach of SMEs to the financing of their business activities can be assessed as favorable for established companies due to high bank liquidity. Banking and non-banking institutions, private individuals, venture capital funds offer a wide portfolio of financial products. Established entrepreneurs do not have a problem with access to bank loans, leasing and factoring. Alternative sources of financing include venture capital, angel investments, bond issuance, crowdfunding and state support. However, the Czech Republic is characterised by a weaker investment environment, which undermines the establishment of new companies and the financing of new SME projects. While crowdfunding has become a popular tool for obtaining the necessary financial resources, capital financing is underdeveloped compared to similarly sized EU economies. There is a lack of willingness to invest in the early stages of business development (pre-seed, seed, start-up and later stage venture). The market for angel investments is barely visible, fragmented. However, the situation for innovators in the idea phase or start-ups is more complicated. Investments in these entities appear to be high risk for investors and banks, mainly due to the absence of relevant corporate history, lack of collateral or lack of information to assess their credit risk or valuation of their intangible assets.
SMEs are very vulnerable, especially in terms of financing, and have a higher perception of financial risk due to more frequent rejections of loan applications. The situation in this area has significantly improved over the last few years. The 2019 EC survey states that the share of SMEs in the Czech Republic, which cite the access to finance as the most significant problem, decreased from 12% in 2011 to 8% in 2019, to increase again to 10% in 2020 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In terms of access to common methods of financing, the Czech Republic is above average in several indicators showing the quality of SMEs' access to finance. The most important direct sources of external financing for SMEs are credit lines or overdrafts (52%), bank loans (43%) and leasing (50%). So far, capital financing is relevant for only 1% of companies. In terms of the use of financing, between 2019 and 2020, investment in the development of new products or services remained almost constant (around 25%). Most sources of finance are intended to finance either fixed investments or inventories and working capital.
In 2020, there were roughly 1.18 million active enterprises in the Czech Republic. 99.85% of these firms were SMEs with less than 250 employees each. Micro-firms dominated the business landscape, comprising 96.4% of all SMEs in 2020. The total number of SME employees decreased by 42.8 thousand in 2020 compared to 2019, i.e. by 1.8% to a total of 2.35 million employees. Given the situation caused by the coronavirus epidemic, this decrease can be considered moderate.
Interest rates for SMEs decreased by 14.1% in 2020 compared to 2019. This decrease does not reach the level of the minimum rates from 2016 and 2017. The interest rate spread between SMEs and large firms increased by 0.43% to 1.13%. The recent development in interest rates was probably also due to the response by the Central National Bank to the COVID-19 crisis, by proposing a banking package containing a proposal to amend the Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR-COVID). The measures also include the application of a factor supporting SMEs.
Venture capital investments reached their lowest level in 2016. Since then, they gradually increased until 2019, when VC investments reached EUR 24.3 million and re-investments jumped to EUR 125.5 million. According to preliminary data, VC investments returned to pre-2019 levels in 2020. They reached EUR 14.2 million in VC, and reinvestments fell even more sharply, from EUR 125.5 million in 2019 to EUR 25.0 million in 2020.
Government support for SMEs and entrepreneurs primarily consists of measures in the areas of developmental and operational financing, export support, support of the energy sector, development of entrepreneurial skills and financial literacy of entrepreneurs, technical education and research, and development and innovation.
The SMEs Support Strategy in the Czech Republic for the period 2021-2027 (SME 2021+) aims to increase the productivity and competitiveness of SMEs, and at the same time to strengthen their international position, inter alia in the field of research and innovation or the use of advanced technologies and skills. The Strategy represents the key strategic document for the preparation of the European Union (EU) cohesion policies over the 2021–27 programming period in the area of enterprise development. This includes the Operational Programme Technologies and Applications for Competitiveness (OPTAC).
SME 2021+ includes several tools, such as government loan guarantees (National Development Bank – former Czech-Moravian Guarantee and Development Bank), financing and insuring schemes for exporting SMEs (Czech Export Bank and Export Guarantee and Insurance Corporation) and innovative businesses (INOSTART programme). It also includes a programme to draw financial resources from the EU Structural Funds (Operational Programme Technologies and Applications for Competitiveness) which provides support to SMEs through grants, preferential loans and guarantees.
As of 21 April 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Trade had announced three calls for the COVID programme based on credit and guarantee instruments. Due to the emergence of COVID-19 and related preventive measures, the COVID II program was launched in the spring 2020 as part of the EXPANSION-guarantee program. Another program that tackles the effects of the pandemic is the COVID III program, designed for SMEs and large enterprises. Other loan programs in 2020 were the ENERG program and the ENERGY SAVINGS program. The goal of both programs is to reduce energy consumption
Within the COVID I program, the volume of loans provided was CZK 928 million. In the COVID II - guarantees program, the volume of guaranteed loans was CZK 14.6 billion. In the COVID Prague guarantees program, the volume of guaranteed loans was CZK 1.6 billion. COVID III program is intended for companies with up to 500 employees, without distinction of SMEs; the volume of guaranteed loans was CZK 18.1 billion.