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The consolidated cumulative net profit of over 60,000 companies reporting to AJPES dropped to under EUR 170m, a third of the level in the preceding year.

"Corporate performance deteriorated significantly," Marjan Širaj, the head of the statistics division at AJPES, commented at Wednesday's press conference.

Companies that posted end-year profit (60% of all companies) increased profits by 10% on average, while those who ended in the red saw their loss deepen by 26%.

Meanwhile, cumulative revenue dropped by only 0.2% over the year before, to EUR 77.2bn, as foreign sales expanded by 2% even as domestic sales dropped 1%.

The data also show a continuation of deleveraging, a trend picked up in several surveys.

Long-term corporate liabilities thus dropped 5% to EUR 21.8bn while short-term liabilities remained roughly flat at EUR 30.4bn.

Unlike companies, sole traders saw their fortunes improved, as the nearly 70,000 that reported to AJPES reported a combined net income of EUR 320m, a 25% improvement on the year before.

Companies and sole traders are required by law to submit business reports to AJPES, which acts as the central depository of corporate data.