Allianz Research

Allianz Global Wealth Report 2024:
Surprising relief

Past the peak – European corporate margins down again?

Eurozone corporate profit margins reached 40.8% of gross value-added at end-2022 (+0.6pp above the long-term average). But the devil is in the details.

The right to work versus the right to retire

Ageism is still pushing older workers out of the labor market: In the EU only 51% of the population aged between 60 to 64 is still active on the labor market. The main causes are difficulties to find an adequate job and long-term unemployment in higher ages since negative stereotypes about older workers persist.

Sector vulnerability to rising financing costs

With a debt/EBITDA ratio of 3.8x on average, US firms are more leveraged than European ones (3.3x). But Europe has a higher proportion of total debt maturing in one year (20% vs 14% for the US).