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A new report has revealed that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within the finance and insurance industry have high levels of business confidence levels for the next few months.
Bankwest’s 2017 Outlook report noted that this optimism was due primarily to strong supply and demand as well as assertive management. SMEs with lower confidence levels, meanwhile, cited rising costs, economic uncertainty, and pressure on profit margins as the main drags.
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Bankwest Business Sentiment Index, which polls Australian businesses on a quarterly basis across four key variables ̶ business confidence, performance, health and economic outlook - revealed a neutral overall index, which was due to SME’s optimism over debt repayment and business prospects for the next three months, offset by concerns over the Australian and global economy.
Overall, Australian companies were deemed to be in good shape despite the economic uncertainty. According to the report, three quarters of SMEs were confident in their overall business prospects, while almost half expect their profits to increase within the year’s first quarter.
SMEs in Queensland were found to have the highest level of business confidence in the country. Also posting a high level of business confidence was NSW, with almost 80%of SMEs showing strong business confidence despite an uncertain future.
Both Victoria and Western Australia, meanwhile, were found to be less optimistic and were below the national average, Money Management reported.
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