The Perceived Effect of COVID 19 on Egyptian Financial and Operational Firm Performance: A Survey Study

With the emergence of the COVID 19 pandemic globally, many countries have suffered and continue to suffer from many economic, social and psychological impacts and problems, as well as attempts to address the cumulative effects of day by day. This study examines the implications of Coved 19 for Egyptian companies in different sectors of different sizes and characteristics. From April 1 to July 28, 2020, more than 150 survey/company forms were used by testing 4 main basic axes: 1. Perceived impact on firm financial performance, 2. Perceived impact on firm operational performance. The impact of Corona virus on public health in Egypt was somewhat moderate compared to countries with similar characteristics from Egypt (Morocco- Algeria) – and the emergence of the Corona pandemic certainly had successive effects on different companies. The study employed 150 firm from April 1 to July 28, 2020 (Official lockdown period) and this time was chosen as the official period announced by the government as precautionary measures (for work, home quarantine and precautionary measures for commercial, financial and recreational activities). The results indicate that the pandemic has had a significant impact on firms’ financial and operational performance; profitability, sales, liquidity, production size, and customers number decreased significantly (while the quality of production remained constant) from April to the end of July 2020 in different proportions according to the ways to deal with the crisis within each company and employ its resources, with stable production quality and a decrease in both production volume and the number of customers.