Deloitte has today released its latest European CFO Survey which finds that business leaders across Europe are more optimistic than they were six months ago and the outlook for revenue growth, hiring and capital spending is improving.
Forty three of Europe’s CFOs say they are more optimistic about the prospects for their company than they were three months ago, up from 38% in the first quarter survey. Just 11% say they are less optimistic, down from 13%.
In Ireland, 56% of CFOs say they are more optimistic, while just 14% indicated they are less optimistic. Optimism is highest in France, with 78% of CFOs more positive, and lowest in the Netherlands with 23% more optimistic.
Fifty one percent of Irish CFOs rate the overall level of uncertainty facing their business as high, compared with 79% in the first quarter 2017. Widespread expectations of revenue growth are prevalent once more – four in every five CFOs surveyed anticipate this financial metric will continue to rise in the next year.
Irish CFOs are most bullish amongst their European counterparts with regards to capital expenditure – 58% plan to invest in their business by increasing capex, directly aligning to their top priority of driving organic growth within their businesses.
Commenting on the research, Partner at Deloitte Ireland and EMEA CFO Programme Lead, Alan Flanagan said, "Here in Ireland, the findings mark a noticeable recovery from some of the shocks to the market in 2016, namely Brexit and the US presidential election. The identification of geopolitical risks and currency fluctuations amongst the top risks in the minds of the Irish CFOs demonstrates that they are not getting ahead of themselves, but the survey results certainly highlight some stabilisation over the last six months."
He added, "With the economic outlook improving and levels of uncertainty receding, CFOs are able to shift their focus to longer term issues, planning for more expansionary strategies and capital investment. It’s encouraging that over half of Irish CFOs are expecting to recruit, although the availability of people, with the required shills, may be a challenge in this regard."
Source: www.businessworld.ie