According to the recently published UBS SME Barometer survey, although the global economic downturn and the strong Swiss franc have affected smaller firms in Switzerland to a lesser extent than their larger counterparts, in the third quarter of the year, the economic situation had a more significant negative impact on the SME sector too.

The poll is conducted of both small and large companies in the industrial and services sector, and aims to provide a representative picture of the impact of the economic situation for a cross-section of the business community.

According to the survey, in the areas of sales, prices, earnings and cash flow, the manufacturing sector showed stagnation or decline, with numbers of employees being the only area showing an increase. However, it emerged that SMEs had fared better in general than the larger companies questioned.

In the building sector, while earnings stabilised for the larger companies questioned, SMEs reported a continuation of the downturn of the previous year. Both large and small firms anticipated a worsening in each of the areas examined, with number of employees again the only indicator set to remain stable in the last quarter.

UBS went on to reveal that the overall, the services sector has had a comparatively easier ride so far this year, with sales, earnings and cash flows unchanged during the third quarter, and employment rising slightly.

However, both large and small operators in the retail and tourism sectors are "struggling", with only employment levels remaining stable. Again, though, SMEs fared better than larger companies, with declines in sales, prices, cash flow and earning less rapid for SMEs.

With regard to the impact of the strong franc, 37% of those questioned regarded a price of just over 1.20 francs against the euro as too high, with industrial enterprises tending to consider a higher exchange rate against the euro to be fair compared to enterprises in the service sector. However, the level of export activity undertaken by the individual companies affected the degree to which it was a concern, with smaller businesses more likely to just operate domestically.

An earlier poll of SMEs, conducted by Swiss business network centre Osec in October 2011, found that similar worries with regard to the strength of the currency and that state of the global economic climate were affecting the export outlook of many of the companies questioned.

The survey found that although export growth had been positive to that point, growth was likely either to slow or stagnate in the final quarter of the year, with the vast majority of Swiss SMEs experiencing pressure on margins.

A lmost three quarters of the export-oriented Swiss SMEs surveyed (73%) expected growth in exports to slow in quarter four (significantly up from 67% in the third quarter, and from 55% in Q2).

Swiss SMEs predicting a decline in exports cited the economic downturn as the primary cause, followed closely by competition pressures, and by a drop in prices.