Financial Analysis and Survival Research of the Visegrad Countries’ Health Industries

Abstract

Our study examined the financial situation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the health industry of the Visegrad Four (V4: Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary) in the period 2008–2021. The basis of the analysis was the reports available in the Crefoport database. During the analysis, we took into account four key financial indicators (liquidity, profitability (ROA), efficiency, capital structure) and used the Kaplan–Meier survival estimator to examine the viability of enterprises. In our study, we draw attention to the national economic importance of healthcare SMEs in the CEE region, and within that, in the V4 countries during the period of Industry 4.0 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Our research goal is to examine the life expectancy of healthcare enterprises operating in Hungary at the time of their establishment, in relation to the SMEs of the other three countries. The health industry SMEs of the V4 countries showed positive growth (+18%) in the period under review compared to the average of the 3 years before the COVID-19 pandemic, in the average of the first 3 years of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study paid particular attention to the life expectancy of businesses at the time of establishment. According to our results, the life expectancy of healthcare enterprises operating in Hungary at the time of establishment is high, but it does not differ significantly from that of the other examined countries. Our study highlights that the health industry SMEs of the examined countries do not need financial support; they are standing on a stable footing, which provides them with an excellent opportunity to either expand abroad or introduce innovations.