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Global CEOs Confident of Growth Prospects, But Optimism Dips

Globally, 65% of CEOs see “disruptive forces” as an opportunity rather than a threat to their business
Almost 70% of Australian CEOs felt they would achieve a revenue growth of 2-5% in their company in the next three years. This compares with only 41% of global CEOs who were expecting a similar level of revenue growth.
Almost 70% of Australian CEOs felt they would achieve a revenue growth of 2-5% in their company in the next three years. This compares with only 41% of global CEOs who were expecting a similar level of revenue growth.

Chief executive officers around the world are still broadly confident about global economic prospects, despite an increasingly uncertain geopolitical environment, according to a report by KPMG International, a global network of professional firms providing audit, tax and advisory.

The 2017 Global CEO Outlook, which was released on Tuesday, found that while many CEOs are optimistic, this optimism has dipped from 80% last year to 65% this year, news outlets reported.

The figure was similar among Asean CEOs (65%), but Singapore CEOs were slightly more confident (73%).

Globally, 65% of CEOs see "disruptive forces" as an opportunity rather than a threat to their business. Among Singapore and Asean CEOs, this figure was higher at 96 and 92%, respectively.

When asked to evaluate near-term business prospects, 83% of global CEOs described themselves as "confident of their company's growth prospects" over the next three years.

Singapore and Asean CEOs were found to be more confident, at 96 and 98%, respectively.

Nearly 75% of global CEOs also indicated that their business is aiming to be the "disruptor in their sector". Similar numbers were seen for Singapore (77%) and Asean (83%) CEOs.

KPMG's 2017 Global CEO Outlook polled almost 1,300 CEOs of the world's largest companies.

Growth Opportunity

Australian chief executives are more confident about their company growth prospects over the next few years but less optimistic about the outlook for the Australian and the global economies, according to the study. Business Insider reported.

It showed that 70% of Australian chief executives felt they would achieve a revenue growth of 2-5% in their company in the next three years. This compares with only 41% of global chief executives who were expecting a similar level of revenue growth.

“This is a big shift in mood from last year’s report, which showed that 43% in Australia and 48% globally felt they would achieve this growth,” KMPG Australia chief executive Gary Wingrove said. He added that two-thirds of Australian chief executives believed their company would increase their headcount by as much as 5% over the next year. Almost a quarter said they would be increasing their staffing levels by 6-10%.

Disruption

Some 90% of Irish CEOs see disruption as a growth opportunity for their business, not a threat. The study found that 97% of Irish CEOs want their own business to be the disruptor in their sector, while four in ten CEOs believe disruption in their sector will eliminate or weaken traditional leaders, Business World reported.

In addition, new technology will have the biggest impact on company growth over the next three years while attracting new talent will be the biggest technology challenge for 37% of CEOs.

 The number of Irish CEOs who expect to increase headcount over the next three years has also increased year on year from 32 to 43%. The report finds that 87% of Irish CEOs say their organization is placing greater importance on trust, values and culture in order to sustain its long-term future.

Reputational Risk

UK chief executives have named reputational and operational risks as their biggest concerns, a significant shift from last year when neither category featured in their top 10 list of challenges, the KPMG report said. The change reflects the heightened scrutiny of business practices by government and the public, it said.

It found that UK CEOs were most concerned about operational risk (35%), reputational risk (34%) and the risks presented by emerging technology (32%). Furthermore, 54% of the UK CEOs interviewed believe their business would grow just 0.01-1.99% per annum over the next three years.

Meanwhile 74% of them said that increases in inflation meant they would have to pass on increased costs to their customers.

More than half (58%) said they were planning to invest in innovation over the next three years, while 74% confessed to spending more time scenario planning following the uncertain geopolitical climate.

Bill Michael, chair-elect at KPMG in the UK, said, “Closing the book on new staff training while future growth is uncertain, may seem sensible, but it risks throwing future opportunities away."

 

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