Deloitte CFO Signals(TM) Survey: Canadian Business Optimism Recovers Slightly, but Concerns Remain About Possible Persistent Stagnation
Capital spending in Canada expected to decline by nearly 10 per cent this year.
(firmenpresse) - TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/03/13 -- The state of the world's major economies continues to cause concern among North American chief financial officers (CFOs), even as they report an improved level of optimism about their companies' prospects compared to the final quarter of 2012. Those concerns have largely shifted, however, from the risk of economic crises or collapse to fears of further stagnation, leading to restrained expectations for sales and domestic hiring this year, according to Deloitte's Q1 CFO Signals™ survey.
The quarterly survey, which tracks the thinking and actions of CFOs representing North America's largest companies averaging more than $5 billion in annual revenue, saw net optimism (the difference between the percent of CFOs expressing rising and falling optimism) increase after two dismal quarters. Led by CFOs in the United States, net optimism rose from -11 last quarter to +32 this quarter, but Canadian CFOs were more modest in their expectations, with their net optimism recovering only slightly, to +7 from -6 last quarter and still well down from its peak of +57 at the same time last year.
"Canadian CFOs have traditionally expressed higher net optimism than their U.S. counterparts, so this quarter's findings mark a significant change from the past," said Bill Cunningham, co-leader of Deloitte Canada's CFO program. "Although sales growth expectations in Canada continue to outpace those in the United States and earnings growth expectations are roughly the same, Canadian CFOs are more muted when it comes to such things as dividend growth and capital investment."
Public policy uncertainty seems to be a major drag across North America at the moment, with more than 90 per cent of CFOs saying that current and recent policy decisions/debates - ranging from debt ceiling and sequestration policies to possible defence cuts - are having at least some impact on their companies' plans. But it is tax policy that appears to be having the most substantial impact across industries, with some 75 per cent of CFOs claiming at least some impact, and 40 per cent indicating substantial or strong impacts.
The potential detrimental impact of government actions on a stagnating global economy tops the list of most worrisome risks for CFOs, particularly the possible effects of the government's taxing and spending policies on consumer demand and the broader economy. More than half of all CFOs surveyed see the current state of the North American economies as the main driver of growth, but a quarter of them also consider it the top impediment. The economic situation in Europe is also seen as an impediment to growth by 23 per cent of CFOs, a figure offset by a similar level of optimism about the positive effect of economic growth in China.
Nevertheless, some CFO expectations did rebound this quarter. For example, Canadian CFOs raised their expectations for year-over-year earnings growth to 11.8 per cent, in line with North American expectations of 12.1(i) per cent, while their expectations of a 7.4-per-cent jump in sales outpaced the North American figure of 5.4(i) per cent. But Canadian CFOs were much more restrained when it comes to capital spending, predicting a 9.4-per-cent drop from last year, compared to the expected 10.9-per-cent increase in the United States. Domestic hiring expectations did recover significantly among Canadian CFOs, however, improving to 3.5 per cent from just 0.2 per cent last quarter, even as a substantial proportion - 27 per cent - of North American CFOs now expect cuts in domestic hiring.
"Many of these estimates have rebounded from survey lows seen in 2012, but they are still, for the most part, below their longer-term survey averages," said Dick Cooper, Deloitte's co-leader of the CFO Program. "As net optimism recently has tended to peak in the first quarter only to decline in following quarters, this survey may suggest that CFOs believe the North American economy still has some way to go before they consider this to be a sustainable recovery."
The Deloitte CFO Signals™ survey also revealed the following results (estimates are adjusted averages to reduce the effect of outliers):
To download a copy of the survey, please visit: .
(i)All numbers with an asterisk are averages that have been adjusted to eliminate the effects of stark outliers.
The Deloitte CFO Signals™ survey was conducted for the first quarter of 2013. Eighty-five per cent of the 106 CFO respondents were from companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenues, and more than 70 per cent were from publicly traded companies. There were 15 Canadian CFOs who took part, representing about one in seven of the CFOs surveyed.
Each quarter, CFO Signals™ tracks the thinking and actions of CFOs representing many of North America's largest and most influential companies. This report summarizes CFOs' opinions in five areas: business environment, company priorities, company expectations, finance priorities and CFOs' personal priorities. For more information about Deloitte's CFO Signals™, or to participate in the survey, please contact .
About Deloitte
Deloitte, one of Canada's leading professional services firms, provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services. Deloitte LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership, is the Canadian member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. Deloitte operates in Quebec as Deloitte s.e.n.c.r.l., a Quebec limited liability partnership.
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity. Please see for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited and its member firms.
Contacts:
Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada
Mary Warner
416-413-4761
Deloitte Canada
Vital Adam
Senior Manager - Public relations
+1 514 393-5281
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Datum: 03.04.2013 - 04:00 Uhr
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