Christine Christian
(Episode 370; 11 minutes 39) Businesses are expecting to invest in more capital and build their inventory going into the first quarter of 2010. That’s the finding from the latest Dunn and Bradstreet National Business Expectations Survey, based on a survey of 1,200 business owners and senior executives across Australia.
On today’s BTalk I ask Dunn and Bradstreet’s CEO Christine Christian whether this investment is across all industries and whether there are any signs that could hinder the progress of the economy and the bullish attitudes of Australian business.
As well as looking at expectations the survey also includes actual figures for the September 2009 quarter. 11% of firms had spent more on capital investment compared to the same quarter last year, while only 7% decreased capital expenditure.
Other results were less promising:
- 27% of firms have increased sales, while 34% have had lower sales
- 8% of businesses increased staff, but 14% reduced employee numbers
- 14% of firms increased profits, compared to 34% experiencing lower profits
Looking ahead the major concerns are wage growth, interest rates and fuel prices.
Are you feeling as positive about the start of 2010? Add your views in the Talkback section at the end of this post.
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